At the Palace, Kara rehearsed a prepared speech on the Florida attack. "The lives lost in the terrible alien terrorist attack will not have perished in vain. They inspired us to rise from the ashes as one people of the world. For twenty days, the world has seen no armed conflict. That's a record. Nations have put their petty differences aside, united we rebuilt our families, cities, and our lives. The fusion of human and alien technology not only enabled us to defy gravity and travel with unimaginable speed, but it also made our planet, finally, safe again."
"Great speech," a secretary said to Kara as she finished.
"I know, right?" Kara smiled, impressed with herself.
A young man then entered the room, a captain in the Marine Corps. "Captain Dylan Hiller, welcome to the palace," Kara said warmly.
"Great to be back," Dylan said smiling.
"I cannot tell you how proud we are to have you flying the Imperial flag up there," Kara complimented.
"It's an honor, Your Majesty," Dylan said appreciatively.
"Your father was a great man," Kara recalled.
"Before he became a cuck and a global embarrassment, yes, yes he was," Dylan agreed.
"Give my regards to him," Kara said sympathetically.
"I will," Dylan nodded.
"You are this world's Black Knight," Kara said seriously and then her watch started beeping informing her of an emergency.
The Moon
On the moon, a new plasma cannon was being installed, the most powerful land-based weapon in the Galactic Federation. The plasma cannon was attached to a moon base 100 meters tall and resembled a flower. The bulb, so to speak, was placed on a foundation tower that allowed it to rotate for 360-degree shooting. Three prongs from the tower added additional support to keep the bulb coming loose. The firepower of the plasma cannon was capable of destroying any mobile ship in the galaxy with one shot.
Lieutenant Jake Morrison, however, was not impressed. He was piloting one of ten Dionysus Recycler ships acting as tow-boats for the bulb section of the weapon. "Slowest trip of my life," he remarked.
"Hey, cheer up. There are worse things you could be doing than towing the most powerful weapon on Earth," Lieutenant Charlie Miller, his co-pilot told him.
"Yeah, well, I need a little more stimulation," Jake said dismissively.
"Well, I'm here," Charlie volunteered.
"That sounded really queer," Jake scolded.
"I was the youngest valedictorian in the academy. I could have been stationed anywhere, San Diego, beaches, surfing, women, but I decided to come to the moon...with you," Charlie said.
"You've never dated a woman in your life," Jake reminded him.
"But I'm a fast learner, and I got great balance. Like a cat," Charlie said confidently.
"Yeah, that's a fresh style," Jake rolled his eyes.
"You've got the best smile, man. Your girlfriend is a lucky lady," Charlie said as he took the co-pilot position. "I mean, with your looks, the two of you are going to make one handsome baby."
"You're not bad-looking yourself, Charlie. I think you need a new uniform because your chest is filling out that shirt," Jake said.
"I know, right? It's been hard to make it work. I'm about to burst out of all my shirts. I guess that's what happens when you work out as much as I do," Charlie said pleased with himself.
"What spray are you using? That is some good shit right there," Jake complimented.
"It's just my natural scent," Charlie replied. "Hey, after this, you want to go to the theater. They're playing this old movie, Rent."
"I don't know. I got some pent-up aggression. I might just go to the gym and wrestle with the guys," Jake considered.
"What you really need is a hot tub. I'll even join you," Charlie suggested.
"As long as I'm totally wasted," Jake allowed. "Also, I don't want to do laundry so it's going to have to be without shorts."
"Hey, it will be like last time, no problem," Charlie nodded.
The Dionysus recyclers got the bulb in position and docked onto the tower. Immediately, the three prongs became activated and moved to lock the bulb in place. For reasons inexplicable, the moon base commander ordered the recyclers to disengage before the prongs locked the bulb in place.
"Are you aware there are only thirty-six females on this base," Charlie complained.
"I'm sure one of them will come around," Jake said doubtfully.
"It's not like all of them rejected me. One of them said she'd spend the night with me if we watched homosexual male porn together," Charlie said.
"It's a trap," Jake warned.
The prongs malfunctioned and stopped working. The bulb tilted over in the direction of the moon base. In another inexplicable order, the moon base commander ordered the recyclers to disengage to avoid getting hit but guaranteeing the moon base's destruction. Jake went against orders and locked onto the bulb. He then charged his engines to the maximum to push the bulb back into an upright position. Slowly but surely he put the bulb back into the locked position and immediately the prongs moved to make the final lock. Disaster had been averted.
Supergirl then flew over to the moon and noticed the situation had already been solved. She eyed Jake inside the recycler and then used her X-ray vision to scan the population inside the moon base.
Kara entered through the airlock and met Jian Lao, the moon base commander. "The plasma cannon is now operational," he assured her.
"What of that little incident I noticed?" Kara asked.
"One recycler is out of commission due to engine overheating," he reported.
"I allow humans the opportunity to be up here because it strokes your pride and ambition for space colonization. I could have easily had drones be here and they would haven't fucked up as badly as you have. What do you think would happen if this moon base was destroyed and everyone here killed? The media would talk shit and my alien allies would laugh at you," Kara lectured.
"I will make the proper correction," Jian assured her.
"Yeah, you go do that," Kara said dismissively.
Ubuntu
On the planet of Ubuntu, a planet on the border of the Delphic Expanse, a Galactic Federation convoy made its way to King Dikembe. Upon arriving at the gate of the city, Brainiac 5 got out of his vehicle and noticed Harvester's skulls on pikes. He gave the armed guards an unconcerned look but analyzed the fact they had Harvester rifles. The people were dark-skinned, humanoid, bald.
"I'm looking for King Dikembe," Brainiac 5 said to them.
"Mr. Dox, the one and many," Dr. Catherine Marceaux said of him.
"And you're not him," Brainiac 5 noted.
"Surprised?" she asked.
"No," Brainiac 5 replied without emotion.
"Do you even remember my name?" she asked peeved.
"I remember everyone's name," Brainiac 5 assured her.
There was a long awkward silence between them. "Can we keep this professional this time?" she asked finally.
"I'm always professional. Biological lifeforms just seem to think that whenever they have sex with one of my units, it has some deeper meaning to it," Brainiac 5 replied.
"It's for this reason you'd make a lousy psychiatrist," Catherine chided.
"Or the best one," Brainiac 5 countered. "Is that why you're here? Does King Dikembe have unresolved daddy issues?"
"His people fought a ground war with the aliens for the last ten years. They have the strongest connection to the aliens I have ever seen. It's as if they've tapped into the subconscious," Catherine said.
"Your obsession with the alien psychic residual condition is naive but insightful," Brainiac 5 allowed.
"You calling me obsessive is rich coming from you," Catherine said.
The two of them walked over a hill and saw a clear view of a Harvester carrier with several landing legs keeping it suspended over the planet. The ship was 15km wide and half a kilometer thick. "When did the lights come off?" Brainiac 5 asked.
"It happened on its own, two days ago," King Dikembe said, sneaking up behind them.
Brainiac 5, Catherine, Dikembe, and a squad of Ubuntu soldiers arrived at one of the legs. "I appreciate you giving me access to this find. Your father was a very tenacious fellow," Brainiac 5 said.
"His pride caused the death of nearly half of my people including my brother. He was an asshole," Dikembe said resentfully.
"It appears they were drilling for minerals here," Brainiac 5 noted. "Why did the drilling stop?"
"I do not know but everything about the ship died two days ago," Dikembe replied.
The group went up the leg until they entered the interior of the ship. Inside, was a network of corridors with glowing walls and occasional control panels. Brainiac 5 went up a random control panel. Cables extended from his fingertips allowing him to hack into the ship's computer. "The signal from the home planet ended. The ship is in sleep mode," Brainiac 5 reported.
A hologram appeared before them showing the home planet destroyed. "So, Prince Mon-El's mission was a success," he realized. He then saw a star-shaped mother-ship exiting the Delphic Expanse on a course for Earth. "Time's Up," he realized.
The Moon
Several Apollo fighters from Earth landed on the moon, one of which was piloted by Captain Dylan Hiller. The nine human pilots were chosen from various regions of the planet in an obvious affirmative action program. "Captain Hiller, how does your father feel about a moon hanger named after his wife's boyfriend?" one reporter asked him.
"He loves it," Dylan frowned.
"Captain Lou, China has been integral to the earth-space defense program. Is there anything you want to say to the folks back home on why their star pilot's first name is Angelababy?" a reporter asked.
"You can't talk to me like that. My uncle commands this base. He will fuck you up," Angelababy said scornfully.
Kara summoned Jake to her new office on the moon base. He stood at attention while she sat at her desk. "Why did you nearly kill my favorite star pilot?" she asked accusingly. A hologram of the crash of two Apollo fighters inside the Grand Canyon was shown in front of them.
"I went too far. It was the only way I thought I could stand out," he said honestly. "I wanted to lead the squadron but that's not how the world works."
"Why not?" Kara asked.
"Captain Hiller is like royalty. I'm just an orphan," Jake replied.
"An orphan, huh?" Kara softened her look. "Relax. Tell me your tale of woe."
"The last thing I said to my parents was that I hated them. The only reason I'm still alive is they sent me off to a stupid camp in America during the Mimic Invasion," Jake said reflectively.
"Well...I'm glad they did," Kara said sincerely. "Look, I am royality but I'm also an orphan just like you. And remember that the world works according to me. There's no system above me. I notice everything including what you did to save this base from total destruction. I can't give you an award because you basically cleaned up your own mess and it would reveal your commander is a fuck up creating international tensions on the planet."
"I understand, Supreme Leader," Jake said flatly.
"But I will remember you," Kara assured him and then dismissed him.
Kara attended an emergency meeting on the moon base. "It's like a black hole emerged near Saturn. It's pulling on its rings and destroyed a moon," Jian said, showing the images from orbiting satellites.
"What of our orbiting base?" Kara asked.
"It's gone," Jian replied.
"Well...shit," Kara muttered. She then called up her kids on Earth with her smartphone. "Kids, pack your shit and head to the secret base."
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu, Catherine discussed a particular symbol with Brainiac 5. "It looks like the robot on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Don't you find that to be too coincidental?"
"Perhaps," Brainiac 5 said dismissively. Brainiac 5 then walked up to Dikembe. His office was full of analysts on computers with the walls covered in alien beasts he and his father had killed on safaris.
"Every time I show one of the locals this symbol, they literally shit their pants," Catherine said, trying desperately to get Brainiac 5's attention.
"The night the ship turned off, I had the strongest vision I've ever had, and I drew this," Dikembe said, showing them the same symbol. "And then...I shat my pants."
"Incredible," Brainiac 5 said as he looked around the office. "How did you decipher their language so fast?"
"They were hunting us. We had to learn to hunt them," Dikembe replied.
The Moon
Jake and Charlie worked on the broken recycler while the affirmative action pilots made their rounds. "You're beautiful," Charlie sounded out ancient Chinese.
"Ah, thank you," Jake said appreciatively.
"There she is...with people saluting her...indoors," Charlie said amazed. "It's happening. All the blood is rushing to my head."
"Yeah, the head of your penis," Jake mocked.
"I'm going to introduce myself," Charlie said ambitiously.
"Yeah, no problem," Jake rolled his eyes and then his console started sparking uncontrollably. "Shit, fuck, damn it!" he shouted as it caught fire.
Charlie went over to Angelababy to impress her. "Yo, I think girls look good in drag," he complimented.
"This is my uniform," Angelababy reminded him.
"I was wondering if you'd like to get a drink with me to share notes on the fashion of the day," Charlie said hopefully.
"Isn't that a little queer for a straight man?" Angelababy asked confused.
"I'm a solid twenty-three on the Kinsey Scale," Charlie assured her.
Suddenly, moon dust picked up in a storm near the moon base. A wormhole appeared to be emerging in the sky. A spherical spaceship emerged from the wormhole. On the equator of the sphere was a thin glowing white line. Kara was at the command center in a flash ready to take charge. "The governors are online," Jian informed her.
The ship measuring one km in diameter stared down at the moon base. "We should be cautious and immediately surrender to it," the French governor advised. "Let us hold off until we know more," the British governor advised.
"We have to be decisive. I say we nuke it," the Russian governor advised.
"Fire," Kara said finally.
The plasma cannon fired a concentrated green beam at the ship that blasted a hole right through it. The ship fell back and tumbled on the surface of the moon where it finally crashed. "Send a team to the wreckage. I want to know what we just shot down and which civilization I just pissed off," Kara ordered Jian.
While Kara went back to Earth to conduct a ceremony, Brainiac 5, Catherine, and Dikembe arrived on the moon base. "I am taking command here," Brainiac 5 said assertively.
"What are your orders, Sir?" Jian asked respectfully.
"I will be taking one of the recyclers to investigate the wreckage and bring back anything useful. Lieutenant Morrison and Miller will be my pilots for this mission," Brainiac 5 said.
"Sir...Morrison and Miller are grounded," Jian said awkwardly.
"Not any longer. The Supreme Leader has a special interest in them," Brainiac 5 replied.
"As you wish, Sir," Jian complied.
Jake was more surprised than anyone to be selected to retrieve the wreckage. He was handed another pilot's recycler and began his checks. Brainiac 5 eyed him as he went about his business. "How about you take a seat, Mr Dox," Jake offered.
"Is there anything I should know...that I don't already know?" Brainiac 5 asked him.
"Why? Are you nervous about me? I haven't crashed one of these...in a couple days," Jake said lightly. "But that was intentional."
"I'm aware," Brainiac 5 said dryly.
The recycler came up to the crater where the alien sphere ship had crashed. "We're coming up to the Van de Graaff crater," Jake said as they arrived.
"There, it is," Brainiac 5 pointed out as his vision was more enhanced than Jake's.
Jake and Brainiac 5 exited the recycler in suits and walked on the moon's surface. "So, what are we looking for?" Jake asked.
"Likely, a smaller sphere that was in the bigger sphere," Brainiac 5 theorized.
Inside the ship, Charlie made small talk with Dikembe. "So, nice tattoos. Are those all the alien kills you made? How did you get so many kills?"
"I took them from behind," Dikembe said seriously.
"That's certainly how you do it," Charlie agreed.
As it happened, Jake and Brainiac 5 did find a sphere that was inside the sphere. It was in a safe box container amidst the debris.
Metropolis
At the same time, the affirmative action squadron did a flying routine around the moon base which was shown on a large screen in the Metropolis stadium. "How's it looking up there, Captain Hiller?" Kara asked from her stage.
"It's truly humbling to see how beautiful Earth is from here, Supreme Leader," Dylan said, sticking to the script.
Kara then turned to the crowd. "On this day, in 1776, America passionately declared, 'We will not pay taxes on stamps!' and we did not. We did not," she said. The crowd applauded having no idea what she was talking about.
"Attention! Attention! We have an emergency situation!" the intercom system informed the crowd. Kara then saw the Harvester mothership approaching the moon on the screen.
"Oh, fuck," Kara realized.
The Moon
The Harvester mothership suddenly appeared out of hyperspace and moved on impulse toward the moon. "Holy shit," Jake said stunned as he saw the ship overhead. "Charlie, I think you better come get us. The sooner the better. Like...right now."
"I'm on it," Charlie said and then piloted the recycler to their position.
The Harvester mothership grazing the moon started sending material in all directions. Jake and Brainiac 5 struggled to get back as debris fell all around them. Charlie piloted the recycler to catch Jake and Brainiac 5 in the air and then closed the ramp.
Jake and Charlie struggle to gather the safe box containing the alien sphere as debris fell all around them. Upon grabbing the safe box, the recycler made its way toward the base. Jake expertly flew the recycler to avoid getting hit.
At the same time, the moon base was being overshadowed by the approaching Harvester mothership. The plasma cannon at the moon base fired but the beam was merely deflected by the mothership's powerful shields. The plasma cannon charged up for a second strike. The mothership activated plasma canons of its own on the belly of the ship. Supergirl landed in front of the base ready to counteract the Harvester's beam with her own causing a chain reaction that would no doubt destroy the entire ship from the inside. The mothership pulsed its green shields and energized three targeting prongs to fire upon them.
Kara immediately felt sickly, lost all her power, and fell to a knee as her cells absorbed the Kryptonite. "So, that's why it's green," she muttered. The Harvesters fired destroying the plasma cannon and the entire moon base in a fiery explosion.
The Apollo fighters nearby were ordered not to engage and to deploy back to Earth. The Harvester mothership obnoxiously dragged across the surface of the moon and headed toward Earth.
As the Harvester mothership came closer to Earth, orbiting plasma cannon satellites activated and fired on it. As before, their beams couldn't get through the mothership's shields. The mothership fired back destroying each of these satellites in concentrated bursts. The mothership began its approach in the Pacific grazing the eastern side of Tokyo. Catastrophic damage occurred as skyscrapers and highways were uprooted due to the enormous tidal forces of the mothership nearer the surface. Severe earthquakes and tsunamis devastated the Tokyo area creating mass casualties.
The mothership then made its way north over the Bering Strait, the North Pole, and back down into the Atlantic. At this point, the mothership extended leg branches for it to land on the surface. As it got closer and closer to the surface, the mothership's edge destroyed significant infrastructure in Ireland and the UK. In particular, London was hit hard. On the other hand, the mothership was almost on Metropolis. The mothership was oriented in such a way that the east leg was on the coast of the UK, the west leg was on the coast of Metropolis, the north leg was in Greenland, and the south leg was in the ocean between Brazil and Africa. Tsunami waves hit all over the west coast of Europe and the east coast of America. All ships that happened to be in the North Atlantic were in the shade of the giant ship. The mothership was now resting in the Atlantic Ocean.
Soon thereafter, the USS Nemo exited hyperspace and approached Earth. The ship was banged up and barely functional with holes all over it. The Nemo stayed clear of the Harvester mothership and landed in Area 51 in Nevada.
Area 51
Jake landed his recycler while still holding the safe box. "I don't think it's a coincidence that this thing showed up just before they did," Catherine said to Brainiac 5.
"Oh, really?" Brainiac 5 humored her.
Mon then walked up to Brainiac 5. "The fuck happened here. I thought Kara had Earth secure."
"The Harvesters have Kryptonite weapons. Kara is presumed dead on the moon," Brainiac 5 replied.
Mon showed no emotion as he processed that information. "The children?" he asked.
"They're at the secret base," Brainiac 5 replied. "May we swear you in?"
Mon simply nodded. "Attention to orders!" Brainiac 5 shouted, getting everyone's attention. Immediately, everyone in the room went to attention. "Please repeat after me. I, Prince Mon-El, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the Office of Supreme Leader of the Galactic Federation, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the empire, so help me God."
Mon raised his right hand and took the oath seriously as he repeated it. Mon turned to the safe box. "What is this thing?"
"That's from the ship that we shot down. I need you to cut it open," Brainiac 5 requested.
Mon pointed his index finger at the safe box and fired an intense beam of light that cut through the safe box and released the white orb inside. "Interrogate the thing, whatever it takes," Mon told Brainiac 5.
Mon then walked off to the command center and eyed a large infrared screen of the mothership. Within the mothership were millions of small dots and a large dot in the center. "We believe the large dot in the center of the ship is their queen," another Brainiac 5 drone said to Mon.
"Well...no shit," Mon agreed.
"This is video surveillance of a drone in the Atlantic underneath the ship," Brainiac 5 said. It showed the mother ship firing beams of light into the ocean. "The funnel is a mile in diameter. It's twenty times larger than the ones I found on Ubuntu. They may be after the molten core which means no magnetic field, no atmosphere, and no life."
"Thank you for that science lesson," Mon said sarcastically. "The obvious solution is killing the queen."
"Our capital ships will struggle against their shields and hull thickness. However, our fighters may be able to find holes, slits, ports within the ship that can allow for a nuclear detonation inside the ship," Brainiac 5 said.
"Authorize the strike. Let's see what years of military build-up have given us," Mon agreed.
When the pilots were gathered together for the strike, Mon gave the briefing. "This red center mass here is your target," Mon said showing them a hologram of the mothership. "We're going to send a fleet of drones ahead of you and somehow disable their shields. Your mission is to fly cover for the bombers who will be armed with cold fusion warheads. The blast should penetrate the hull and kill the queen," Mon said.
"We will all try to converge at the same time but whoever gets to the target first will deliver the payload. We have to expect they will come at us with everything they got so protect the bombers at all costs. We all lost someone we loved. So, let's do it for them," Dylan said.
Jake and Charlie met up before the strike. They would be operating two different fighters. "We're coming back from this. I promise you," Jake said seriously.
"Yeah, we're going to fuck...," Charlie said and then became emotional.
"Take your time," Jake allowed.
"...them up. We're going to make them pay," Charlie said resolved.
"We're not up there to make friends," Jake confirmed.
The affirmative action squadron was now ready to go. "It's the fourth of July. Let's make some fireworks," Dylan said via radio to the others.
Apollo fighters piloted by humans took off from various locations to converge at the west and east edges of the mothership. Following Brainiac 5's instructions, they flew over the mothership's slopes and went for the center. "Why aren't they attacking us?" Charlie wondered.
"Dude, shut the fuck up," Jake scolded. "You'll jinx us."
The mothership's anti-aircraft cannons fired non-stop at the hundreds of human-piloted fighters. "Evade, evade, holy shit!" Dylan shouted.
Hundreds of Harvester attack fighters then met them in the air in a dramatic dogfight. The attack fighters and Apollos were relatively equal in stats. The Apollo fighters were able to penetrate the attack fighter's shields and destroy them after several hits. Dylan and Jake, for their part, got Ace status quickly as they worked together. Still, the attack fighters were far more numerous and the Apollo fighters were starting to lose.
Brainiac 5 watched the monitors unconcernedly. With the Harvester defenses focusing on the edges of the mothership, the center wasn't overly defended. Automated submarines then emerged from the water near the center of the mothership's laser drill. They opened their hatches and fired nuclear missiles directly into the beam creating massive explosions. The beam stopped immediately as the explosion ripped through the belly of the ship. The submarines were caught in the blast and destroyed.
From the top, the Imperial fleet appeared oriented down toward the center of the ship. Instead of going along the hull, the Imperial fleet simply deployed above the center. Ares battleships, Hades cruisers, and Athena destroyers fired non-stop and released missiles directly on top of the center hull mound. A flurry of even more numerous drone-piloted Apollo fighters went straight for the center, launched their missiles, and did not hesitate to kamikaze if they were already mortally hit. The human fighters were merely the decoy to the drone fleet.
The Harvesters adjusted fire away from the human pilots and engaged the Imperial drone fleet with anti-aircraft fire but it was already too late. The center was blasted through from the top and the bottom disabling their main drill weapon and supposedly killing the queen. Apollo fighters engaged the anti-aircraft cannons on the surface blasting them away so that the only canons that remained were out of line of sight. With this, the Imperial fleet continued to pound on the mothership expanding its range of damage.
Oblivious to what was happening in the center of the ship, the human pilots were thinking they were losing. "Command, it's too heavily armed. We're dropping like flies out here," Jake radioed.
"Disengage and withdraw to base," Brainiac 5 allowed.
"I think we need to fly inside," Jake suggested as he saw an open green-glowing port.
"That's not necessary. Withdraw," Brainiac 5 said calmly.
"Morrison is right, this is our only shot," Dylan seconded.
"Do it," Mon permitted.
"All bombers, we're going in," Jake said as he led the affirmative action squadron inside. Inexplicably, the Harvesters allowed enemy fighters to enter its interior without any safeguards.
At the command center, Imra joined Mon and Brainiac 5. "It's a trap," Imra sensed.
Mon gave her an odd look. "Why would they invite enemy fighters inside their ship to trap them when they can slaughter them outside?"
"I said it was a trap. I didn't say it was a very good one," Imra bristled.
The human-piloted fighters didn't get very far in the interior before they were hit with an EMP wave and knocked out. Small Harvester drones circled the fallen fighters and went inside their open interiors where they created a shield around the cold fusion bombs.
"Command, you have to trigger those bombs," Dylan insisted, oblivious to what had happened to the bombs.
"Do it!" Angelababy shouted.
"Don't let us die for nothing!" Jake shouted.
At the command center, Mon, Imra, and Brainiac 5 were a bit skeptical. "They instigated a trap encouraging our fighters to go inside their ship and then they designed drones specially designed to shield around our bombs," Mon said dumbfounded.
"I suppose," Brainiac 5 allowed.
"Why? How? When?" Mon asked incredulously.
"Well, they didn't anticipate one bomber would be kept in reserves and not open its hatch," Brainiac 5 said. The lone bomber with its hatch closed suddenly detonated all four cold fusion bombs.
The west side of the ship exploded in a giant fireball creating a gaping hole and gutting the interior. The human pilot heroes were killed instantly. Despite the damage, most of the mothership remained intact with small red bubbles indicating where it had been breached. "The mothership is approximately twenty million kilometers square in area. We've managed to significantly damage two thousand of that," Brainiac 5 pointed out.
"Good work, team," Mon rolled his eyes. "The queen is dead. The battle is over. Now, we just have to figure out how to recycle it out of my ocean."
Harvester attack fighters broke off and went straight for a compound in the mountains where Kon and Mara were staying. They blasted open the doors with laser fire and then several of them made their way inside. Mara and Kon watched as the final bunker door opened. Kon eyed Mara as if asking for her permission. "There will be no peace," Mara told him.
Kon grinned at that and raised his hand.
Mon, Brainiac 5, and Imra finally got around to investigating the alien sphere they shot down. "The Harvesters attacked the secret base but the children are fine, enjoying themselves, actually," Brainiac 5 reported to Mon.
"Good deal," Mon said pleased. "What's the deal with this egg?"
"I've run every kind of scan. It's not giving any kind of signal," Brainiac 5 said.
"Maybe, because it's a cheap piece of plastic," Mon mocked.
Imra placed her hands on the orb and then found her hands sinking into it. "Oh, shit. I'm trapped. Should not have done that."
"Stay calm, don't panic," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"It's trying to eat me!" Imra said, freaked out.
Imra was suddenly released as the orb became active. The orb rose and became suspended in the air. "Please don't tell me this is some kind of Trojan horse. I'm not in the mood for that," Mon said to Brainiac 5.
"I don't think it's a danger to us but it must be for them," Catherine theorized.
"I activated myself when I detected your Titan biological signature," the orb said to them.
"Is it a probe of some kind?" Mon asked.
"My species shed our biological existence for a virtual one thousands of years ago," the orb said.
"That's basically the same thing as a probe. It's an AI that simulates life. That still means your species is extinct," Mon mocked.
Brainiac 5 eyed Mon, as if offended, and then back to the orb. "Why are you here?"
"When I noticed the Harvester planet was destroyed by an Earth vessel, I knew they would come here to exterminate life on Earth. I came to evacuate as many as possible but you attacked me without provocation and fucked yourselves," the orb said resentfully.
"Do you have a plan or do you just want to bitch?" Mon asked rudely.
"My system holds the key to superior technology and there is a hidden planet where I teach refugees from other fallen worlds to defeat them once and for all," the orb said.
"Beat you to it," Mon said proudly.
"But now that you have activated me, the queen will detect my signature and hunt me down," the orb said.
"We've already taken care of her," Mon said dismissively.
"Incorrect, she lives," the orb corrected.
Brainiac 5 turned to Mon and Imra. "A saucer ship broke away from the mothership and it's on its way here," he said. "The infrared heat signature in the center of the ship must have been a ruse. The queen must have been elsewhere in a heat-sink structure to hide her from detection."
"Well...shit," Mon muttered.
"It's too late now. You must terminate me or she will get the coordinates of the refugee planet and that will be the end," the orb said somberly.
"I prefer to use you as bait," Brainiac 5 shot down.
Mon gathered the Vindicators in the hangar to discuss the mission. "The idea is to get the queen to follow this recycler into the salt flats using the decoy transmitter onboard. Once she has taken the bait, we activate the shield bubble. Then, all of you will go to town," Mon said simply.
The recycler brought the decoy transmitter to the salt flats while the shield generators were put into position. At the same time, the Area 51 fortress was armed and ready. The saucer ship gradually approached, taking the bait as expected.
Before the battle, Mon sent out a radio message to the world. "I understand that many people around the world are turning to this channel on their shortwave radios. To you out there, make no mistake, this is humanity's last stand. What happens today will either save the human race or finish it. To those of you listening, your fate is tied completely and totally to the Prince of all Insane, Mon-El. No matter your differences, you are all one people under my Insane rule. Whatever happens, succeed or fail, we will face it together until I decide to leave."
"Very inspiring," Imra rolled her eyes.
"Is everyone in position?" Mon asked impatiently.
The saucer ship gradually approached over the mountains of Area 51. The attack fighters swarmed the base with a barrage of fire. Anti-aircraft laser canons weren't doing shit. The plasma cannon fired at the saucer ship only to have the beam deflected by a sacrificial attack fighter. Several tri-prong canons on the saucer ship's belly fired on the base breaching its walls.
Brainiac 5 activated a forcefield around the orb shielding it from detection. At the same time, the decoy transmitter was activated. The plasma cannon fired once more only for an attack fighter to get in the way.
Mon flew the recycler toward the center opening of the saucer. The attack fighters ignored him under the impression the orb was coming to them. The bubble shield then came up around the saucer ship to contain the blast. Inside the ship, Mon smirked at the Harvester queen. "Surprise, bitch," he laughed maniacally as he let loose his power. The saucer ship completely exploded showering the salt flats in debris and nearly overloading the ground shields.
Despite the supposed victory, the attack fighters continued to attack. The attack fighters targeted the base of the plasma cannon and took it down. The Harvester queen then emerged from the wreckage of the saucer ship with her own portable shield. Enraged, the queen tossed one of the shield generator trucks and was now trying to escape on foot.
Several Vindicators pursued her from the air: Imra, Projecta, Nura, Drake, Dirk, and Thom. The six used their respective powers against the queen but were consistently blocked by her shields. The queen fired back with her giant-ass laser gun and whipped her tentacles around. The Vindicators remained solidly out of range while continuing to fire. Nura, finally, came in close and fired non-stop at the queen until the shield went down. The queen bitch-slapped Nura away with her tentacle
Pissed off, the queen went after Nura on the ground. With the shield gone, Drake fired nuclear fire on the queen destroying her laser rifle.
Inside the base, several Harvesters exited their fighters and went inside looking for the real orb. Drone defenders became overwhelmed by the Harvesters and were forced to pull back. Upon discovering the real location of the orb, the queen turned back to the base. Attack fighters circled the queen to give her protection as she stomped her way to the base.
Inside the base, Dikembe took out two machetes and went on a murder spree. The roof was clawed open by the queen. She took the orb in her hand and tried to leave with it. Gim suddenly became giant-sized and slammed into the queen keeping her in one place. The queen tried to whip him repeatedly with her tentacles. The queen and Gim suddenly vanished only to appear a distance away on the salt flats. The attack fighters immediately flew off away from the base to protect their queen. Once the fighters arrived at their queen again, they circled her in a protective vortex. A nuclear-sized fireball engulfed the queen and the attack fighters destroying them all in a giant plume of fire. Drake remained inside the swirl of fire as attack fighters dropped all around him. P
Projecta dropped her illusion showing the real queen materializing back on the base completely defenseless and still being wrestled by Gim. "Withdraw, Gim," Projecta ordered him as she formed an illusion rectangle around the queen. With Gim out of the way, Projecta sent beams of energy through the rectangle. Once the illusion faded, the queen was sliced deep in several places.
Thom then arrived on the scene and tapped the legs of the queen, dropping her to the ground with her own weight. The queen gave an animal screech as she tore through her biological suit, revealing her smaller body inside. Brin then transformed into his wolf-like body and engaged the queen in battle. He bit into her arm tearing through it and forcing her to drop the orb. Finally, Salu burst through the queen's eye as she dropped to the ground in humanoid size. The queen finally fell to the ground dead.
In the middle of the saucer ship wreckage, Mon looked around peeved. "That was some bullshit."
Brainiac 5 walked up to the orb sitting around in the middle of the desert. "Status?" he asked it.
"Optimal thanks to you," the orb said appreciatively.
"Don't thank me just yet. I intend to extract all of your information," Brainiac 5 said as cables extended from his fingertips and into the orb.
"Wait...what? Only an organic can access me," the orb protested.
"I coated my fingertips with human organic tissue," Brainiac 5 explained and then downloaded everything the orb had to offer.
Mon teleported to where the Vindicators were gathered. "Hell of a job," he complimented them. "Now, I'm going to go figure out how to get that ship out of my pond."
Metropolis
Mon visited the hospital and found Kara in a room looking fucked up and near-dead. Her skin was red and blistering. She was in a coma and unresponsive to any stimuli. Solar lamps were on her 24/7. Brainiac 5 briefed Mon on her condition. "She was a lot worse when I found her. She's responding favorably to the blood transfusions from Kon and Mara."
"Will she wake up?" Mon asked without emotion.
"Uncertain which is why I brought her here," Brainiac 5 said and then let Imra inside the room.
Imra went over to Kara and placed her hand on her forehead. Kara suddenly woke up with a start. "What happened?" she asked looking around and then hissing painfully.
"The world is fucked and everyone's dead," Mon informed her.
"Don't be an ass," Imra scolded. "The queen is dead and the mothership is sitting dormant in the Atlantic Ocean. Not going to lie, there were a lot of casualties and destruction."
Kara nodded somewhat relieved. "Who saved the Earth?"
"It was Mon...with a lot of help from the other Vindicators," Imra replied.
"I didn't need anyone's help. A good leader allows subordinates to shine," Mon said dismissively.
"You can't get the ship out of the ocean. That's why you're here," Imra shot back.
"It is a minor inconvenience," Mon allowed.
"Actually, if the ship isn't removed, it will eventually destabilize the Earth causing a mass extinction event," Brainiac 5 corrected.
"Well, no time to waste then," Kara said as she got out of bed and stumbled around in her hospital gown.
"Your cells are still irradiated and you have significant Kryptonite debris in your body. Your powers will be unstable until you have healed," Brainiac 5 warned her.
"My cousin could lift a Kryptonite island the size of Australia out of the Atlantic," Kara said dismissively.
"That sounds like bullshit," Mon doubted.
"My suit, please," Kara requested.
Brainiac 5 placed her crest seal on her chest. Kara pushed on the crest and activated her suit covering up her injuries. She marched her way to the exit and felt the sun on her face as she was outside. She then turned back to Mon, Imra, and Brainiac 5. "Whatever happens, thank you for saving my world," she said sincerely and then flew off.
Kara made her way to the Atlantic Ocean where she saw the devastation to the east coast. She couldn't help but feel her failure had to led such death and destruction. Despite her powers and Kryptontian intellect, Mon had bested her as Earth's hero. She flew under the mothership and found a solid base. Flying rapidly, she slammed her hands into the belly of the ship causing a metal ripple effect from enter to the edges. Kara focused as she became one with the ship, her energy shield expanding around the entire ship. Otherwise, she would simply punch through the ship and not move it an inch.
Kara's power fluctuated as the energy pathways in her body were struggling to keep solid connections. With a scream of effort, Kara pushed forward. The mothership stayed planted at first but with continuous effort, it disengaged from the ground. Kara now had the ship rising in the air off the ground. As the ship rose, Mon, Imra, and Brainiac 5 were able to see it.
"Should she fail, the ship will slam back down on the planet," Brainiac 5 warned.
"If I destroy it while in the air, Kara will be killed and the planet is fucked anyway," Mon considered.
Kara kept the effort up as she moved the ship into the upper atmosphere. At this point, she was fighting the immense gravitational pull that wanted the ship to come back to Earth. Little by little, she got the mothership into space. As the mothership floated away, Kara could see the scars left behind on the Earth. Angered by the sight of it, Kara gave the mothership a final push toward the sun.
The mothership, with millions of dormant Harvesters, fell into the sun and was incinerated. "You're welcome," Kara said dryly and then fell back to Earth. As Kara plummeted back to Earth, Mon teleported to her position and caught her.
"Not bad...not bad at all," he said genuinely impressed.