章 71: 5.12

Location: The inner defences of the alien mothership.

Time: 9 hours 31 min since Invasion Day.

"My turn." I walked out into the large room, filled with aliens, weapons and… is that a giant robot?

One of the aliens stepped forward, holding a device that didn't look like a weapon. Hmm. I let him activate it, since it didn't seem to be a transmitter either.

"Hear me, freak monster of your race. Agree along with your allies to join our forces and we will cease our attack." The device announced.

"Why should we?" I asked.

"To stop us you would need to go through the entire third and seventh division and their assorted forces before we jump to hyperspace and return to our main military outpost. Impossible." The voice droned, but what it said was not all that formidable.

We had half the founding members of the goddamn Justice League right here.

"Challenge accepted." I laughed, tearing the air in front of me with arcs of electricity. "Now clear my path by dying!" I roared and unleashed the cataclysm upon them. Using the primary power source of the vessel was difficult, it was some form of exotic particle I had never seen before. But they still used electricity for standard power all over the place. Such as the defensive turrets.

These burst like firecrackers as I tore their circuitry apart and funnelled all the power they were using through their metal frames, which was substantial. More than that Fake Zeus was throwing around. The walls and the floor became electrified as I floated over it, repelled by electromagnetism.

The soldiers dropped quickly, cooked. Gunnr gave a shout as she tore the seven metre tall humanoid robot they were using as support apart at the waist, with a drilling strike of Gungnir.

The walls on either side opened to deploy more soldiers, using bolt holes. They had been using some kind of sensor jammer apparently, rather than some kind of neutraliser keyed to my powers. I just reached out and they joined the rest, riding the lightning… until they collapsed.

"Well? Hurry up, you heard them. Chop, chop. Time is a factor." I announced over my shoulder before accelerating down the hall.

I looked back to see Batman riding on Superman's back with a sour look as the others followed. I laughed at his suffering pride. I won't mention Martian Manhunter could simply carry him telekinetically…

We burst through passages at high speed deep into the bowels of the planetoid turned battleship, following my sense of the gravity well ever deeper toward the core. Turrets deploying only to explode as I passed them every section we passed. Into a more central chamber. This wasn't simply a carrier, the entire core was hollow, an inverted planet. On the inside walls was alien vegetation, gardens, fields and building complexes. Above them, in the central area on support pylons was a massive device emitting intense power. Bleed Generator. Has to be.

From the buildings came a hail of infantry grade beam weapons, backed up by armoured vehicles with the heavy kinetic impact emitters. The ones that nearly did me in back in Paris.

Which became my first target.

The first tank became my bludgeon as Gunnr deflected lesser beams aimed my way like rain. Sweeping it through the buildings and into a second tank, causing both to erupt in flames.

I didn't have time to be nice, collapsing buildings and smashing the soldiers in my way with their own weapons like clubs, since I couldn't figure out how to fire them. I suspect some kind of biometric key to prevent enemy use.

Wait… that one.

Dressed differently from the bondage leather straps they typically wore. He has more coverage, like a jacket. He has a better gun and looks beefier too. Command personnel? I think so.

Breaking into a grin I sent a swarm of alien weapons at him, locking him inside a stock of guns, which ironically rendered him helpless. I turned, thrusting him toward Martian Manhunter.

"Commander captured. I wonder if he has shut down codes for the primary reactor above us? Do you mind having a poke around in his head?" I asked with a crooked smile.

Moments ticked past, as Superman quickly disabled the soldiers and Batman introduced their scattered remnants to his fists and batarangs, before vanishing in a burst of smoke. It looks cool, if you can't see through it. Unfortunately I can. So I see the running and hiding.

J'onn finally looked up from his invasion of the alien mind. "I have found valid options. This is a Leader Class. He holds several vital codes to key systems. Most notable: the codes to Engineering and the Bridge and where they are inside the ship. Uncoupling the reactor won't stop the jump, they have enough stored power to return home. Shutting down the engine itself by dismantling it or capturing the bridge and taking control of their computer core are the best solutions."

"We do both! Batman, Gunnr and I will head toward the engineering section, sabotaging the drives if need be. Superman, J'onn take the bridge and abort the launch. Worst comes to worst, we scuttle the ship and try to deflect as much debris from the Earth and Mars as possible. Failing that we take control of the ship and return before it reaches home space and we are cornered and forced into being battle-slaves."

[Here is the map to the nearest entrance and the appropriate codes.] J'onn graciously offered.

"Let's get this done." Batman growled.

"Good luck!" Superman offered, before disappearing with Martian Manhunter in a different direction to us.

He didn't even have time to batglare at me before he was inside a barrier with me, flying above the speed of sound, banking and zig zagging down the correct passages while under constant fire.

"Do you have any idea what kind of engines this ship uses or how they are constructed?" Batman asked.

"Nope. But I can tell where the energy is going, that should narrow down the critical components." I offered. "And if all else fails, we blow up or tear out anything that looks important."

A green wall flared up ahead of us, forcing me to grit my teeth from the hard gees of deceleration as we pulled to a stop before collision. It was the same kind of force field that Superman needed to strain to tear through. Too bad he isn't here right now.

"This… might be a complication." I pointed out.

"Can you try to pierce it or manipulate it?" Bats asked.

I tried a few things, pulling, unravelling, trying to force a barrier inside the field… nothing took. As I strained and twisted trying to get a grasp on this strange application of energy Gunnr walked through the field, tapped at a panel and turned it off.

"Well… that works too." I offered, embarrassed.

"Hurry up, can't be late for the big event!" She replied, happily.

"Gunnr, I really don't like the sound of that…" I pointed out.

"The ship is currently locked onto Earth and in a collision course, with the computer thingy locked." She explained cheerfully.

Of course it was. I suppose that makes this a big dramatic cliff hanger for your story too!

コメント 5のコメント

投票

next chapter

章 72: Interlude: Conclusion of Invasion Day

Hello, I'm your host Tom Tucker and this is News Start. Our top stories are: The Alien Invasion and recovery. The Justice League and their public statements and finally Alien prisoners of war, what do we do with them?

So first off; I'm sure everyone has seen the new moon we have, this apparently was the Alien Mothership which was captured and parked in near-Earth orbit at what is known as Lagrange point 2. Their assault ships have either been captured or shot down, with a small percentage surrendering after they learned of their defeat. Already China, Russia and the USA have been clamouring for access to the vessel and its technology, however the Justice League has announced that they are holding control over the vessel and will not allow any one nation to have control of it or its functions. They will instead ensure that it will be examined and all technology not already recovered will be offered for development.

Many vocal outcries have been publicised, such as the scathing assessment of the current situation by Lex Luthor and other influential individuals. The response from the Justice League was simply "We do not believe that any of Earth's nations individually can be trusted with a warship whose expressed purpose was planetary invasion. We will only allow representatives of the UN access after careful observation. Any other attempts will be rebuffed."

Now, it is understandable this Justice League is concerned by exactly how advanced the technology they currently possess is, the real issue is quite simply that it is a military vessel and the majority is offensive or defensive weapons technology. Initial analysis of captured technology reveals that the majority of their weapons and vessels are relatively conventional, as far as construction materials go. There have been suggestions that people avoid taking souvenirs or functional devices as the risk these may be booby trapped or toxic is a factor. Remember these are likely weapons. Just to be clear: if you believe you have an alien device or vessel component in working condition or nearly complete, please hand it in at your nearest police station; there is a fixed reward offered.

Despite the swiftness of the defeat, the cities attacked have suffered significant damage. Estimates in the US are in the billions of dollars in damages. Many buildings were rendered uninhabitable or risks to public safety and will need to be renovated or demolished.

Justice League members have offered their assistance in reconstruction and disarmament of our alien captives. In Metropolis, Central City and Paris: Superman, The Flash and Magnus have already begun to help.

[Images of Superman lifting a toppled building and flying it away.]

[Images of Flash setting up numerous shelters for homeless civilians in moments.]

[Images of Magnus helping in Search and Rescue, shifting entire piles of rubble to free a mother and child buried alive.]

Now the Justice League themselves: they have confirmed that a strike team consisting of Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Magnus and Valkyrie were instrumental in the alien defeat. Those that were contacted have remained tight lipped about their actions. They do however intend to provide the UN a mission report. Whether this report will ever see civilian eyes is unknown.

Meanwhile a great many others joined in the defence of Earth, some coming as a complete surprise. The application of Atlantis to join the UN was a major surprise to all concerned. Their leader has already been unofficially inducted into the ranks of the Justice League. As has Ambassador Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman; the very same individual as the one from World War II. Also joining their forces are other members of the legendary Justice Society, Green Lantern and Red Tornado. Dr Fate has also been sighted, but has not yet been available for comment.

[Black and white footage of the Justice Society posing for cameras]

Their efforts continue as they work tirelessly to aid people, however many are unable to be identified. Batman is a complete mystery, sources from Gotham PD remain tight lipped about his exact involvement in events leading up to and during the so called 'Invasion Day'.

The only official acknowledgement is simply that he is 'A serious guy in a cape' from Captain Marvel during his celebrations. Martian Manhunter has also been confirmed to be a 'green alien' and that he is a genuine Martian, whereas these Invaders are from a different planet and not from the Solar System at all. Alien advocate groups are already using him as a poster child.

[Footage of small groups of people waving signs with slogans including 'I luv aliens' 'Green good, Blue bad' and 'we're all aliens to somebody'.]

Added onto all of this are the newly formed reactionary group of Metahumans in India called the Divine Trio and the technologically advanced weapons displayed in Russia and China by elite units.

[Soldier runs past camera in power armour with an unidentifiable weapon in hand.]

Britain remains, still rocked by the fact they had literal demons running around on their streets. Please note, this is disturbing footage. It has been censored to comply with viewing standards.

[footage of Demons tearing alien apart in brutal fashion.]

However we are still left with the problem that these aliens bring, not least of which includes the dozens that are still engaged in brutal guerilla tactics in civilian population centres and reports are still coming in of others dug into wilderness locations.

Current count of captives is estimated in the tens of thousands, with nearly the entirety of the Metropolis invasion force secured alive due to Superman.

[Footage of Blue Aliens huddled inside a temporary prison, fenced off by razor wire and armed guards patrolling.]

[Click]

"It's not that difficult people! You just shoot them in the head!" the viewer remarked.

The television remote was tossed onto the couch and owner sat up with a bounce.

"Haha… really? This stuff is supposed to be hard to use?" A pale hand picked up an alien weapon from the floor and pulled a trigger-like section to no result. "I suppose it is, if you have no guts!" the hand reached down into a bucket of congealing green fluid. "Ew… sticky." The green stained hand gripped the weapon and tried again, vaporising a section of the floor.

Joker laughed excitedly. He turned to look at the three Blue aliens he had strung up on the wall. "Really, this isn't rocket science… its just common sense! Hahahaha!" He fired on the closest, cutting him in half and spraying more green fluid, alien blood.

"I love this gun!" Joker exclaimed.

コメント 14のコメント

投票