On a planet whose name was forgotten to time, the symphony of destruction played above an audience of corpses.
Explosions from the rounds of flak guns boomed across the sky over the ravaged battlefield, fallen soldiers both native and parademon alike littering the ground in piles. The corpses were so numerous that there weren't even any stray blaster bolts heading towards either side. This battlefield has been depleted of warriors.
A few stragglers tried to move amongst the ocean of fallen, but they were swiftly (and mercifully) dealt a swift death at the hands of the only soldier left on the warzone: Barda.
Much of her armor was stained with ash and soot and her tattered cape slightly billowed in the wind. She had her mega-rod on her back and settled for a spear as she walked across the battlefield like a hunter.
She heard a few moans at a certain spot. She looked to see a group of soldiers of both sides groaning in pain. She plunged a spear into the backs and chest of whoever was left, be they the enemy or parademon. A simple stab and an occasional turn of the blade was all that was needed. Quick and relatively painless. Painless in comparison to bleeding out slowly, of course.
She needed some alone time doing this, away from her Furies, who would mock her for her sympathy. A small twinge of pain hit her heart for every dying soldier she encountered. A fast death in another senseless war may have seemed mindless, but she imagined it to be a comfort granting them that mercy at least.
"Barda."
Barda perked her head to see Steppenwolf dragging his electro axe across the blood-soaked sand, sparks of electricity jumping from the blade every second or so. Behind him were a squad of parademons, investigating the area for survivors to take back to Apokolips to convert them.
"Steppenwolf." Barda greeted with a slight bow of her head.
"Where are the other Furies?" The helmeted Apokoliptian queried, his axe now off the ground, "Are you not their captain?"
"Yes, well-"
"Then why are you not leading them?" He rudely interrupted.
She thinned her lips at the interruption before clarifying, "I ordered them to deal with the opposing forces in the next sector. I told them I'll catch up while dealing with any stragglers."
As soon as she said that, a body twitched and she plunged her spear into their head. Steppenwolf only snorted, "You waste good parademons."
She pulled the spear out and spoke tersely, "Too broken. Too weak."
She then turned, but not before Steppenwolf's hand grabbed her shoulder, "Is there something wrong, captain?" He asked, but most certainly not a question he asked in concern, but of a demand for clarification.
She shook his hand off, "Nothing is wrong." She answered. "Now go away."
The Apokoliptian snarled like a beast at her response, "You have been acting strange, as of late." He clenched the handle of his axe as he pestered her, "I have seen such behavior before. From Tigra and the many Hunger Dogs in the slums."
Barda stopped and turned back to him, "Are you suggesting that I am-"
"Planning a rebellion?" Again, he interrupted, "Yes, I am."
It was this moment that made her drop the spear and get up close to his face, "Coming from you, that's quite the accusation."
Once again, he snarled, as parts of his green armor flared up like the quills of an angered porcupine. The parademons following him all seemed to arm their weapons or back off. She resisted the urge to smugly smirk at his irateness.
"I saw my mistake before I even made it." He clarified with clenched teeth, "My nephew may not have earned the throne legitimately, but he earned it nonetheless. And I would not stand for the insurrection Tigra planned."
"You're lucky he was feeling merciful that day." Barda snipped, "I guess slaughtering the rabble in front of him helped earn back his 'good' side."
She smiled, "Since it's such a bitter memory for you, I imagine you aren't too keen on testing his patience anytime soon. Especially if it's revealed that you started a little scuffle with one of his finest soldiers. Infighting looks bad on all of us, wouldn't you agree?"
Steppenwolf grinded his teeth and seethed before calming down, the parts of his armor that were sticking out like daggers folded down in a smooth state again. "Very well, captain." He flatly responded, "I yield."
Her smirk grew wider, "Good boy."
He scoffed at the comment, hanging his axe on his shoulder and ordering his squad to move out. Not long after, she was left alone, yet again.
She heard a ping from her Fatherbox and it was Gilotina informing them that the sector they were sent to was cleared. She nodded and said she'll be there soon. The transmission ended and she put the device away, heading towards it by walking there, of course.
As she walked towards the coordinates, she looked up to see starfighters and cruisers in the sky, much of the conflict above covered by the clouds of smoke and ash. Explosions of destroyed fighters and prematurely detonated shells replaced the near eternal stars of the sky with fleeting flashes of light and cracks of sound.
The symphony of war continued its act.
Fleeting flashes of light and cracks of sound replaced the near eternal stars of the sky in technicolor splashes upon the black canvas above.
Cheers were heard, the whizzing of ignited fireworks adorning their joyful clamor. Sparklers were in the hands of kids who ran around their lawns. The smell of barbecued meats mixed with the smell of gunpowder. The Fourth of July was truly at full force.
She knew that this was a tradition in America. Heck, fireworks were around for centuries, invented by the Chinese and used in countless celebrations since then. That she knew.
But centuries of war made her numb to the idea of explosions in the sky being a positive thing. To her, it was just another reminder of the countless worlds she helped destroy.
Scott knew this and was hesitant on the idea of celebrating this at all. He was the New God of Freedom and the idea of a holiday celebrating a nation's freedom was right up his alley, but he knew that the way they did it wouldn't mix well with his wife.
"You can go out there, you know." She said, loading a CD into a player, "Go on and have fun."
"It's not fun if you're not having fun." He retorted, leaning on her shoulder, "It's especially not fun if you're alone."
She smiled and put on some noise-canceling headphones, playing some nice relaxing audio of jungle noises as she went to sleep. Scott followed suit, soon after.