Invasion Earth
Location: My Apartment.
Time: Some time after dawn. Don't care, jetlagged.
Just seeing Paris again is enough to help me feel relaxed. I'm not even sure where May and Louise are, they aren't home. Oh, it's after nine. Louise would be teaching.
I collapse on my bed and that's all I remember until my stomach begins to complain.
I fix myself some fresh fruit and pass the time waiting for the girls to return. Mmm. The grapes are good.
At least the world isn't doomed because I got high. Thankfully what I thought I did and what I said I did were two different things, no wonder Batman panicked. I merely gave the moon a nudge that would in time resolve the slowly decaying orbit. I didn't pull it thousands of miles closer, which Batman had thought from my words and the shift in gravity.
It was an immense amount of power I was outputting, I think I had city wide awareness. But pushing the moon itself like a lawn mower was out of my league. I half expected various gods and goddesses of the moon to come complain, or worse smite me. Even if I do worship the father of the wolves that ate the Sun and Moon during Ragnarok… I suppose at least Loki enjoyed it, assuming he wasn't responsible. Hard to tell with trickster gods.
At roughly four o'clock I notice an odd darkness spread. It wasn't cloudy, when I looked from orbit earlier. I can't see the clouds, but my windows are facing in the wrong direction. I grab a bottle of soft drink and head up to the roof to look on the off chance I'm not being paranoid enough.
When I saw the source I looked away before taking a swig of my drink.
A damn eclipse? I'm jumping at shadows.
The problem becomes more evident when the eclipse continues on and on.
What? Don't tell me, this is Wotan?!
Then it gets worse… as I see the moon rise. What the heck is eclipsing the sun?
A quick jaunt into orbit, with a slight evasion to avoid a passing satellite gives me a clear view.
It's a goddamn mothership.
A massive vessel, maybe a quarter the size of the moon. Sitting right between the Earth and the sun. At just enough range to cast a shadow over us. If I were the aliens this would be either a shock and awe tactic, or a finishing move. In only a few days plants will start to suffer. In weeks humanity will be starving. A year? We'll be a fraction of the billions that exist now.
Which race are they? I don't know, the vessel is suitably alien.
Dammit, warp drives make war between planets easy. Why can't I be in a world where the aliens are limited by basic physics and the logistics of supply? Interplanetary war is impractical without that one crazy little device.
So the big questions: are they here to subjugate us, experiment on us or exterminate us?
I'm leaning to subjugation, this isn't a casual 'hello we want to trade'. This is them shoving a boot on our throat and making us choke just enough so we know they can kill us by stepping on us harder.
Oh, I'm picking up a rather wide radio band signal. As in, alien. It's on every civilian channel and most military ones. Heck I can almost taste what it says.
Surrender. Disarm your armies, submit. Or be destroyed.
The space around the ship is flooded with a cloud of glittering things. I can only guess that those are fighter/escorts, bombers and troop transports. Perhaps robotic or clone troops. The vanguard of the assault.
Well… I can't do much like this.
Time to nut up or shut up.
Gear. I need it. I don't even care about where it comes from.
Down towards the largest collection of metal I can sense.
I have maybe an hour or two.
My old gear wasn't enough to deal with Brain and these are super advanced aliens. The tech base is different. Gotta stay as hard hitting and mobile as possible, because one hit likely means death for me.
I descend on a warehouse filled with construction materials. Tons of screws and nails. Beams and sheets of steel.
With a thought I bring all of it to me and begin to smelt it down into what I need.
Solid structures. Even as I cover myself in wires and chains.
Topped by the customary helmet.
As I fuse the metal and alter it's composition to mirror armour materials I have sensed previously. Building on this I further alter them, changing the metal so that the compounds form in fractal patterns. I take the idea from the pattern of carbon rings and make it out of metal atoms.
The result? Well… it's shiny. Harder than anything else I have available, at the expense of being difficult to mould into new shapes. However I cast it into the shapes I require, so this is a non-issue.
I rise to leave and the entirety of the contents of the warehouse move to leave with me. Tons and tons… maybe between ten and fifteen tons. I hadn't realised just how much iron I was pumping after my training. Almost half again what I used against Chemo.
And this time, I'm not going to be taken by surprise.
I look at the cloud of gnats now visible with the naked eye, they're almost here.
Reaching the military base I enter and find May and Louise… and a good dozen or more people I've never seen before… and that Major from the magic demonstration.
They startle at my current look, my war armour wasn't seen in public last time.
"VICTOR!" May shouted, running to hug me. I pull back the metal and embrace her. "Glad you're okay."
"What's happening?" I asked her.
"Aliens! They're claiming to be here to save us from ourselves, but the soldiers say this is a lie." She explained. I agree with that assessment. This is just their feeble excuse for the conquest.
"I want you to take Louise and hide in our secret base in the mountain, I want you to protect her okay? She can't fight and while I know you can, I need you to be my secret weapon." I lied. "These aliens are here to fight and one of the first places they'll go will be right here."
I switched to French. "Louise, go with May. Hide at our base. If I need your help I'll go there. I'm going to blunt this invasion as best I can." I added aloud, for the students. "If this is an invasion the first military target they hit will be here after any nuclear weapons installations they detect, an obvious military base lightly garrisoned just outside Paris. Grab any gear you can and get ready for the possibility we may be the new French Resistance at any moment."
Grabbing a phone I tried to reach Fleur, but the lines were busy. All of them. Everyone who can is making a call right now.
I watch Louise leave beside May in the crown of a massive tree as it strode away like an ent.
And five minutes later the invasion began in earnest.
As the first vessel to breach the atmosphere descended to hover over a capital city. And the other seventy did the same. Across the world, every major nation was faced by the unknown and their response to the threats?
We refuse to surrender.
Then thousands of smaller ships followed the same paths down, attacking indiscriminately.
277
Location: Above Paris.
Time: Invasion Day +10 min.
The huge ship was smaller than the Mothership which remained lurking out in the gulf between Earth and Venus, was some two kilometres across and diamond shaped. It had come down above Paris.
After hovering over the city for several minutes they simply attacked, the massive ship that seemed to be supporting the assault was enigmatic for the average human, but I could see clearly it was jamming communications and deploying troops, possibly by teleportation from the brief, intense flashes I sensed.
This was the least of my concern, as the sky was filled with smaller vessels. Aerodynamic needle shapes, with stubby wings that carried various payloads of advanced weapons. They didn't even seem to be focusing on military targets, as few of these actually existed inside Paris. Anything seemed to be a valid target as the assault craft barrelled down firing from maximum range and not stopping until they had to manoeuvre to avoid collision with the planet.
Beams, bright white carved into buildings. Globes of yellow splashed around like a machine gun. Worst of all a brief flashes of black which simply erased pieces of the target. Fucking disintegration rays!
I quickly became a target as my magnetic field must be obvious to their sensors. The globes were fired at me from a nearby craft and were just as quickly returned: they were plasma bombs encased in magnetic fields. Which I bounced back with the opposite polarity magnetic field.
I grinned as the fighter in question hit by its own weapon showed energy shields that flared briefly before being punctured, the fighter erupting into flames and wreckage. I probably couldn't repeat that trick very often before they learned, but damn was it effective.
But I was now engaged by all nearby craft, including the massive troopship which rotated turrets and began to bombard my position with more of the beams, incessant and blinding. I could sense them as they tracked me by the melting iron dust I had spread across my range but at this point I was moving at supersonic speeds, shielded as much as I could by barriers. Changing course randomly and pulling off moves which should have crushed me with the gees I was pulling, if I wasn't mitigating them with my limited gravity manipulation ability. I still felt the sharper ones, as I was pressed hard.
They were trying to corner me with beam attacks from multiple directions, so I moved toward the Troopship, using it's bulky side as a partial shield to limit the angles of attack. As I moved I wasn't simply evading.
Several smaller vessels had strayed into my range. Coming in closer to better hit the moving target.
They were alien internally as externally, but what I sensed included components that were metallic and magnetic including the hull. Clustered about one larger section in the rear of the ship was a particularly powerful magnetic field. I was betting it was part of the engine as I ripped the components of that section free from the vessels.
Better, it seemed they were the power plant regulators. Because the ships suddenly became erratic as the pilots panicked before igniting into a conflagration of blue fire after several moments.
I reached the Troopship in this time, forming a spiral of iron dust into a drill against the shields. But it was unnecessary. It seemed these were the kind that allowed slow moving objects through and resisted high speed objects I noted as dust around me passed through. I slid through just as easily, grateful as a particle beam played over the shield where I had been moments before.
Now inside the shields I was under attack from turrets of the vessel, but these were smaller versions of the plasma globe thrower and thus inconsequential. They merely bounced back despite the fact they were randomising the magnetic field polarity with each globe. I have enough fine control for this much at least.
The hull it seemed was armoured, far beyond the fighter craft. It was also constructed of steel alloys and a few new alloys I took note of as I ripped it wide open. Inside bald blue people screamed at the sight. A hail of nails silenced them before they used the guns they were carrying. I continued to pepper them before they ever got the chance to use those guns with any degree of accuracy.
I ventured deeper, idly noting I could detect the aliens by their brainwaves, an odd pattern made them significantly different to human. Or I suppose the blue skin could be used as a guide. It was more of an afterthought, to avoid infiltrators getting the drop on me later. It also made targeting a vital part of their anatomy easier. Boom, headshot.
Meanwhile operation Rip and Tear was in effect as I burrowed into the heart of the vessel. Finally I must have reached a critical component because the vessel began to retreat. Reaching the stratosphere did nothing to dissuade me as I continued to core them like an apple.
Around low orbit I hit something even more vital as fire burst out into the atmosphere venting from the vessel. I retreated as the vessel began to meltdown, literally. As it died like it somehow drank from the wrong Holy Grail I shoved it away from Earth orbit. Barely enough to get it moving, but better than tidal waves or surface impact from a two kilometre long hunk of junk falling from orbit.
I turned, to face several fighters which had been pursuing the vessel and were now taking aim at me. I replied in kind with railguns as powerful as I could create from the cloud of metal around me.
Compressed electromagnetic coils and the fact I was no longer limited by the forces of friction means they reached speeds of near light speed. The screws and rods striking the fighters even as their beams slashed out, the black energy weapon was detonated early by my debris cloud; I was most concerned with the white beams that carved through everything I was using.
Their shield technology resisted the kinetic impacts well, unfortunately. The ships being rattled by the impact slightly off course and nothing else. However I had noticed that the fighters were using a different system of propulsion from the gravity manipulation of the bigger ship; perhaps a plasma engine? Regardless, it means that I had an edge in an atmosphere.
I fled back down into the gravity well of the planet, luring them in after me before completely reversing direction, punching into the heart of their formation. With a chuckle I brought them into violent collision with each other, by taking control of their hull of alien metals. They were rattled and three tumbled out of control. I followed up by shearing their vessels in half, just behind what I thought was the cockpit.
Their vessels sent out rapid fire bursts of radio signals and higher band emissions, mayday perhaps?
Regardless, there was nothing to save them as they reached the surface and became part of the landscape.
I had little time to observe the pretty explosions as I descended on Paris once more.
Right into the heart of the swarm.
I spread chaos among the fighters, using my superior three dimensional movement to ambush them as they tried to line me up or evade and occasionally using the range extension technique I learned to reach out and pull the plug on the safety mechanisms of their vessels outside my typical range.
Over the following ten minutes I scrambled to beat the horde back, before finally becoming too tired mentally to continue this exercise in futility.
Fighting the foot soldiers and the cannon fodder would get me nowhere.
I moved to regroup, to reach the others in America. A united front is what we all need and I need backup.
A new vessel came down, smaller than the troopship, some form of corvette perhaps? A hundred metres long at most. It moved like a slower fighter but it was covered in hard points bristling with weapons of all three kinds I knew they used and more.
The fighter craft rallied at the arrival of the support craft, increasing the aggression of their attacks on me and devoting more fighters to the mission. A commander must be here.
I moved to engage but a wall of beam weapons cornered me. I moved to use the environment but I was herded by them into the heart of the city. This was looking bad. For every one I took down three replaced it. They were moving me into range of the Command vessel; to finish me off.
As it began it's strafe I was struck by concussion weapons, some kind of projector that fired explosions without chemicals or projectiles being involved. My shields buckling under the wide scale attack.
Then as I began to taste despair…
A flash of golden light and the howl of a wolf was all the warning I was given before a graceful and lithe female form flashed down from the skies with a spear onto the Command vessel. Her impact rocked the ship like it had been punched by a giant, piercing the shields. Then she raised the spear overhead.
"Never fear, Gunnr has arrived! Know my name villains, as I strike you down in the name of Odin! Taste Gungnir!" She roared. Then plunged the spear down into the hull of the vessel. Time seemed to stop in the moment of impact and then the vessel twisted and shattered around the spear strike as the hull was slammed down, falling like a stone.
Gunnr herself leapt high, reaching out to grab the saddle of a massive wolf that was running on air.
Clad in golden chain and with long, plaited blonde hair the same colour she descended, bearing a round shield decorated with a pair of ravens and the legendary weapon of Odin himself. A vision of beauty and equally of violence.
A beam came towards her, with a faint smile her shield redirected it back towards the attacker, burning him from the sky.
"Greetings my Lord! Gunnr, your loyal shield maiden has come at last! Come let us dance with them until they falter! I shall follow your lead."
I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face in relief.
Valkyries were well known for protecting people on the battlefield they admired, I guess being one of the few remaining Norse Pagans has perks.
For the Valkyrie named War was with me. Something akin to a goddess.
"Welcome, truly your timing is magnificent." I replied.
"Naturally. This is what I know above all things!" She answered, cheerfully.
Last edited: Apr 8, 2019
Note:
English dialogue.
French dialogue.
Location: Paris, in the thick of a swarm of alien fightercraft
Time: Invasion Day +47 min.
The gleaming smile and inhumanly good looks of Gunnr were enough to put me at ease after my near death experience just now. Her willingness to follow my lead even more so. Because if she could punch through shields like they were paper and deflect those annoying beam weapons, what did I need to worry about anymore?
As she floated calmly in the chaos astride a white wolf the size of a pony as it paced in mid-air.
The world was insane; but it was insane and favouring me for once!
"Come, my Lord. The battle has yet to be joined and the enemy yet to be swept before us like chaff!" She called eagerly for the violence to begin, twirling the personal spear of a Wargod in her hands. The round shield on her left held in readiness.
"Indeed." I replied. With a grunt and an effort I tore out past my standard range and pulled a fightercraft alongside me despite the engines pushing at full thrust to escape. Inside I could at last see the same bald, blue skinned alien race through a window. He was in full panic mode now, looking back at me.
With a smile I raised my hand and clenched it, his eyes widening as he realised the meaning a moment before his ship became so much twisted metal.
"The time has come to teach these vermin their place in the universe. Defeated beneath us, as carrion." I growled.
Gunnr laughed cheerfully at the sight. It would be a deranged thing for an average woman to act like this, but this was a spirit of warfare and battle. It only seemed to further her charm.
Odin was aiming for hearts and minds with all the subtlety of a brick to the face it seems.
I burst into flight, testing to see how well she could match my speed. It turns out, better than me. Supernatural flight and the experience of millennia of use.
So I didn't hold back and pushed to my limits, the golden, gleaming woman to my right at all times.
Jousting with fightercraft became our sport. We were together immune to the entirety of their standard weapon loadouts. My iron debris catching the disintegration rays early and ablating them, the plasma globes bouncing back from my magnetic field projection and finally Gunnr wheeling around me and reflecting the particle beam weapons back to sender.
The both of us in good cheer slaughtered our way through the waves and formations of the enemy, taking back air superiority.
The pieces of alien junk trailed behind us like rain as we tore through them.
Soon the fighters, reduced to only a handful turned and fled. I lost count of how many I destroyed over the past hour.
But now we had two choices, to eradicate the remaining ground troops before they dug in and help fortify Paris or seek to help the disparate heroes struggling in their own cities.
"We can do both my Lord." Gunnr suggested. "The heroes have the Flash who will soon be playing messenger. In the meantime, while we await their summons the foot soldiers of our enemy will make a fine distraction."
It was not fair, not even close. It was war and war has only one rule, win with the least sacrifice.
The infantry were so far below the fightercraft they may as well have been gnats.
With the ability to sense their brainwaves in my range I tore through them regardless of defences and cover. But more than that, it showed me a new facet to Gunnr and her powers. She was a precognitive when it came to battle. She could tell when the counter attacks began, the ambushes and retreats... the ebb and flow of war in its entirety plain as day to her insight.
Beyond this her skill with the spear and shield were high, but this I learned was an aspect of Gungnir itself. Ease of use. It seems her weapon of choice is a broadsword intended for a single hand. In fact: she explained as we hunted down a squad of fleeing blue warriors, her name was occasionally used to reference this particular weapon type in the sagas.
Finally she was strong and tough with her reflexes enhanced by her precognition to superhuman levels. I'm guessing Wonder Woman levels of strength from how she punched through those shields. She hasn't needed to exert herself since.
She can also float, slowly under her own power. Her wolf Ikilvarg, was her mount for the speed and flight she gave her rider. Icicle Wolf the canine's name in English.
The screams of a squad as they were ambushed by the wolf from the flank were short and damning.
The wolf itself was also a terror, with a breath weapon that produced restraining ice and strength and toughness equal to Gunnr since they were connected. The Valkyrie and her mount were a singular entity. A bond deeper than telepathy apparently.
It was after twenty minutes of hunting that we stumbled across a fierce firefight between elements of the French military and police forces versus a larger than usual group of foot soldier aliens. It took me a moment to realise that elderly fellow near the rear was the President himself. Also present was Fleur, which was a relief. She was nursing an injured arm, which just proved the final straw of my restraint.
Power lines, cables, pipes all rose at my commands from the surroundings and overwhelmed the aliens, who turned their weapons on the metal objects desperately before they were bound and rendered harmless.
A cheer went up from the ragtag defenders. Fleur's smile displaying genuine relief. She's had a tough day, I'd guess from this mess.
She raced over, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you!" She repeated, with teary eyes.
"It's fine Fleur. May and Louise should have retreated to the base you gave us. I figured it would be remote enough it would be overlooked." I explained. "Still… hell of a way to end my holiday!"
Fleur looked to the skies. "Are they gone? I haven't seen many of the small ships in a while. But I haven't been able to observe very long, all I saw was you attacking that huge ship."
"Destroyed or in retreat. At least locally. I defeated the troop transport in orbit and threw it away from Earth and between myself and my newest comrade Gunnr we have been able to put the fear of the gods into them." I told her, with some amusement. "Gunnr here is a very real Valkyrie. Odin favours us in this struggle."
"Yes. For the Aesir are wise and cunning, warriors that are also kind! We will not desert you mortals in your darkest hour!" Gunnr announced from my side. "So rise men and women of fair France! Take up arms and beat back the enemy! For the glory of the gods and humanity!"
Now I didn't expect that to get a rise out of the defenders, but apparently she maxed out her charisma stat at some point in the past. The people began to yell out their approval of her words.
Crafty old man!
Odin really was subverting people back to his religion with his choice of spokeswoman.
It was a perfect time for Flash to turn up, looking haggard.
He looked at the scene of a secured city and triumphant humans with slight astonishment.
"Woah man, you took them all out? That is some serious death defying heroics!" He exclaimed.
I gestured to Gunnr. "I had backup at just the right time to change the flow of the battle and repel them. However that is not important. You're here to gather us for the counter attack, correct?"
"Yeah… that is right. How did you know…?" He asked surprised.
"Because this is something that none of us can do alone, but together we will be a force to be reckoned with." I replied. "Paris is mostly secure for the time being. Let's go boot these blue bastards off our planet!" I looked to Fleur. "Time to bring some of those changes I mentioned into reality. See you soon, keep yourself safe."
"Yeah!" Flash it seems had cheered up, nodding eagerly. Seeing a victory, he must be inspired because he's not the wreck that arrived a few moments ago. He reached out to grab Gunnr, who simply shook her head. "Take my lord, I will be with you momentarily." She then slipped into the saddle of her wolf.
The world became a blur as Flash dragged me along at speeds that boggled the mind. Then I was there. And to Flash's surprise so was Gunnr, who stepped out of thin air at my side as if she never left it. "Where there is war and battle, I am present. And this is most assuredly a council of war." She answered my unasked question.
We were in a bunker, I noted. Faces I knew. Faces and masks that were new. All of them were seated around a rough table.
The League was here, in the first few minutes of its infancy!
337Location: Justice League (almost) bunker (temporary base).
Time: Invasion Day + 5 hours.
Superman stood from his seat at the head of the table, to greet me.
"Magnus! Good to have you here. Sit down, your friend as well. We were just about to begin the briefing." Kal El said, getting to the point, before sitting down again.
I nodded and took the side opposite him and no one even questioned this, subtle power-play that it was. Black Lightning at Superman's side also said a quick hello and from the right Captain Marvel waved energetically. Wonder Woman seemed particularly interested in Gunnr, probably because she felt some parallels between them, although her gaze did pause to size me up.
Then I felt a strange sensation and turned towards Martian Manhunter, who must be looking into my memories.
[I know what you're doing. I have anachronous knowledge, so don't be alarmed that I know most, if not all the people here to some degree.] I thought at him.
He looked at me and nodded faintly. {I do indeed have much curiosity concerning this knowledge. However Kal El has given me access to his memories also and thus I know of your unusual beginnings.} He replied mentally. It was like a voice I couldn't hear. {However your potential telepathic talent was obvious and I wished to test it.}
[Later, when the chaos dies down I'd like your aid in training it. But for now we have more important matters.] I thought back.
[I would like to help you in this task. But you are correct, time is fleeting at the moment.] He agreed.
Batman stood up from beside Superman.
"We shall begin. At the current moment we under invasion from a technologically superior enemy, comprised of blue alien humanoids. They have struck the North American continent in several cities, including Canadian Vancouver, perhaps by mistake. Those attacked include Washington DC, New York, Metropolis, Gotham and Central City. Additionally several other cities have come under bombardment from orbital weapons and the lightest class of assault ship they use.
In Europe Paris, France and London, England were attacked.
Several smaller nations in Africa claim to be infiltrated but no reports have made it out other than by word of Flash. India and Pakistan have both been hit hard and China seems to be fighting back fiercely. The USSR is also under significant attack, however they refuse to tell anyone to what extent. Basically every nuclear power is being targeted."
He cleared his throat, before continuing.
"So far we have only one report of the aliens being beaten back..."
Flash interjected. "Two. Paris is free and clear for now."
All eyes at the table turned to me with surprise. "I destroyed many fighters, the large troop ship and Gunnr beside me took down a different class of ship, some kind of Heavy Assault ship armed with some different weapons. We also aided the efforts on the ground."
Batman nodded. "Noted. Please elaborate on the new weapons systems and their effectiveness later. Back to the report: Metropolis is also free and clear. The efforts of Superman and Black Lightning coordinating was sufficient deterrent."
I raised my hand. Batman pointed to me. "Are all of you aware of the Mothership? It was the cause of the eclipse we are currently under. It is sitting out there casting a shadow over us. I observed it by flying into orbit."
"Somewhat, we knew an artificial object was in place to obstruct our sunlight, but it was only speculated to be a ship." Batman replied. "Reaching it will be difficult."
"Really? Superman, Captain Marvel, myself and Gunnr are all space capable I would assume. Are you able to survive in space, Martian Manhunter?" I asked.
Superman seemed surprised. Oh right, forgot to mention it to him.
"I can survive in a vacuum for extended periods by shape-shifting." Manhunter replied.
"That makes a serious strike team between us if it comes to that. I can also carry a few people, if we add some oxygen tanks to my gear." I pointed out. "You only need to hold your breath to travel in space." I whispered under my breath, so Superman could catch it. He slightly nodded his head in reply.
A shame we didn't have a Green Lantern. That would have made things easier. No way these particular alien attackers would cross the Green Lantern Corps. They're obviously not powerful enough.
No Aquaman either? Odd he isn't here.
A thought occurred to me.
"Are any aliens being seen operating over the ocean or seen submerging?" I asked.
Batman looked at me strangely. "Yes. Why?"
"Then we need to help there too, they are attacking Atlantis as well." I pointed out.
"The mythical city?" Batman responded dubiously.
"No it exists. I do not know the people who control it in this age, but my people know of the nations under the waves." Wonder Woman spoke, backing me up.
I nodded. "They would make good allies in this fight, they have significant magical resources. It is how they live down there." And would get Aquaman and his military reserves to back us up. One good turn deserves another.
Batman seemed to accept this. "We will account for them in our planning. Anything else? No? Alright, moving on. We now know the current situation, we will be attempting to remove the enemy by coordinating with the other members at this table and local forces. I am proposing that we split into a number of teams, to better face the opponents. The three members, Superman, Magnus and… Gunnr was it? Will be placed to strategically deny them air superiority as other members deal with the ground forces."
"Together with my Lord Magnus, we are almost untouchable to the current forces. I wish to continue this advantage. I have also sworn to Frigg that I will keep him safe and I cannot do so on the other side of the Earth." Gunnr interjected.
"Two teams then. Those joining with Superman, I would propose Flash, Marvel and Black Lightning. Those with Magnus and Gunnr: Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and myself. To explain these choices; The four of you are all speedsters to a degree, able to traverse great distances at high speed, while Martian Manhunter is relatively fast, Wonder Woman and particularly myself have a very limited movement speed which Magnus can remove by carrying us to our assigned locations." Batman explained.
Manhunter nodded. "It is a shame we do not have a zeta beam transmitter available, travel would be improved significantly."
"Zeta beam?" Batman asked.
"A form of teleportation device. I have contact with the inventor of the device on Earth. It is how I came to be on this planet." Manhunter explained.
Batman seemed impressed. "We will need safety assurances, but it sounds like a useful system to have for rapid transportation. We will discuss it when time permits."
Captain Marvel raised his hand.
"Yes?" Batman asked.
"Can I just say, it is exciting to be working with you guys! This is great! We're gonna save the world!" Billy blurted out.
"Heck yeah!" Flash agreed. "Are you hyped? I am!"
"Yes. I think we all are. This is the start of something special." Diana added.
"To the forming of the Justice League of America!" Flash added.
I coughed and tilted my head toward Wonder Woman. "We aren't American." Gunnr added her glare to make a point.
"Justice League of Earth then!" Flash hastily amended.
Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
326Sidestory: The Resistance Revived
"Get down!" Jean yelled as the blue freak lined up that damn cannon thing again.
Debris flew and the sound of the alien weapon firing made a chill run up his spine. He knew from experience it would obliterate everything it hit, melting concrete and steel like wax. And it was opening fire on the building around them.
Impact after impact spewed from the barrel of the gun of that blue bastard and the structure began to crumble as it was dissolved by the spray of fired globes.
"Where the hell did that come from?" A security guard across the hall asked from behind a column, still reeling because of the suddenness of the assault.
"I'm just guessing, but they brought friends to the event?" Jean snarked back. He checked his service weapon and held it ready, he counted out with his fingers to the other officers.
Three.
Two.
One.
Go!
He popped up from behind the wall and fired. The bullet whining as it missed the blue alien, who blurted something in a language closer to that one with clicks and whistles in it than French as he scrambled out of the line of fire.
Focus! Jean chided himself.
He noticed a flash of blue out the corner of his eye and turned, seeing a second blue freak in bondage gear armed with a beam pistol flanking them he fired. The alien cried out as it was hit, yellow-green blood spilling from the shoulder wound. It clutched at the injury and pulled back, yelling incomprehensibly.
"They're trying to flank us!" Jean yelled.
"Shit!" One of the other officers swore. "Pull back and take cover!"
"No!" Jean yelled. "They may be trying to pin us down for another airstrike! We need to push forward!" The Police station was all but collapsing already under this sustained fire.
An explosion overhead made them duck, then this was followed by several more.
"Are they shelling us now too?!" A detective from the vice squad, Vincent asked terrified.
As if in answer, a crash was heard as a huge piece of rubble struck the building, moving at high speed and burrowed in, sending the officers scrambling for cover. After a few moments waiting for the dust to clear, it became obvious things were not quite as one sided as they appeared on the ground. This was the hull of one of the alien ships. Twisted like a pretzel.
"Some one up there is giving them a pounding!" The lone security guard from across the street remarked.
"Yeah." Jean replied, some hope restored.
A young officer, fresh out of the police academy emerged from the evidence room. "I've got five more pistols, an Uzi and would you believe I found a Tommygun?!"
"Great hand 'em out. We need all the firearms we've got. Give the Uzi to the rent-a-cop over there, its not like spray and pray isn't our current tactic of choice!" Vincent ordered. "Take the Thompson for yourself!"
"Cool." The younger officer exclaimed, hefting the gun one handed.
"Look out!" An older detective yelled, as two blue figures entered through the new gap in the wall made by the downed alien fighter.
Both had rifles that unleashed flashes of black energy on their targets.
Then the building rocked as an explosion occurred too close above it. Everyone, human and alien took cover. But Jean made his next shot count, nailing the left one in the head. He collapsed like the first one he killed on the street at the start of this chaos.
The second seemed outraged and hooted and howled as it raised the rifle to spray his position with rapid fire flashes of destruction.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Jean gasped as the cover around him was hit over and over and disintegrated.
Then the roar of a machinegun ended the assault, perforating the remaining attacker repeatedly.
One of the officers by the window yelled out, as he fired repeatedly with his service weapon. "We need to get somewhere with better cover! They're coming here, a full platoon! And they're equipped with heavy weapons!"
That was all the enticement they needed to vacate the station.
"Hey kid, were there any explosives in the evidence room?" Jean asked.
"I found a block of C4 and what I think is a detonator!" He yelled back over the sporadic gunfire from the window.
"Pass it here, I trained how to handle the stuff in the bomb squad!" The older detective yelled. The officers pulled back, the old man setting the timer on the bomb with a tense face.
"You sure you know what you're doing old-timer?!" Vincent yelled over the chaos.
"Well, if I mess up I'll just kill us quick. Those yellow ball things, they make a man die slow. So win-win." The detective replied grimly. After a few moments he nodded. "Got it. I've set it for two minutes on my mark. Now. Let's lure them in and make them bleed for attacking Paris like the filthy Nazi."
"Okay guys! A fighting retreat is the plan." Vincent added. "We'll try for the courthouse next."
"Here they come!" The kid yelled, before firing a burst from his gun.
The two new squads of aliens were different from the last one, Jean noted. More ornate bondage gear. Heavier weapons. This was an assault team, wasn't it?
The more accurate fire was proof enough, as the security guard was nailed in the chest by a black beam. Like it had the other times, Jean saw the corpse drop as it collapsed missing everything above the hips.
"Go, get out of here!" Jean yelled as he pulled back to the hole in the wall and followed the other officers, pushing the kid out and then the old timer. Vincent paused opposite him and they both unloaded on the alien soldiers advancing into the building to slow them down a few more seconds.
"Time to go!" Vincent yelled.
They had only a few seconds at most. They ran, the aliens following closely several reaching the hole and firing at their retreating forms… until the muffled detonation of the bomb brought down the building around their heads.
The relief that they had survived faded as they saw the chaos in the skies, beams crisscrossing and fighters in every direction converging on the flying figure of the boy the city had called its hero. He looked harried, pushed to the limit and fumbling for a way to escape as the second class of alien ship entered their view.
Then the impossible happened.
The world seemed to radiate calm as that figure appeared and destroyed the ship like a gnat.
Seeing her made Jean pause, starstruck. Her words carried across the city like she was beside him.
Her words about Odin. A real valkyrie.
He'd heard the old war stories from his father about the Axis having valkyries and how they seemed unstoppable. Here was another, this one radiating cheer and enthusiasm. Fighting for them.
Her face, her smile he couldn't forget them even as Vincent grabbed his arm and towed him to safety and cover. He was lost in thought when Vincent slapped him across the face. "Are you with us?!"
"Yeah… I'm awake now." Jean answered.
"Good, we've encountered some stragglers from an enemy squad. Get your head in the game!" Vincent ordered.
"Got it." Jean wondered if perhaps dying now would be so bad, when guarantee of a paradise awaited. After all if Valkyries existed, so too must Valhalla. If there are more girls like that there, what Frenchman wouldn't want to go?
Last edited: Apr 12, 2019
261Location: Justice League Base. Unknown location.
Time: Invasion Day +6 hours.
Poor Barry. He was browbeaten into accepting the simple name Justice League because we were busy, probably why the original was called the Justice League of America. No one had time to debate the last part, such as the aliens, the king of an undersea nation and the princess of the amazons.
I admit a smile at his grasping at straws, because he had already been thinking of the name long before any of the rest of us and still made such an obvious blunder. Speedsters have far too much time on their hands, apparently.
Which leaves me with Gunnr, the scowling Batman and Wonder Woman. Our location was unknown to me, since Flash brought me here faster than I could see. I was in Gotham, I found checking my positioning using the magnetic field of the Earth. Of course. It was somewhere Batman used as a safe location.
The flight of stairs lead upward and into a sewer of all places.
"Really?" I asked annoyed at the odour. "A bunker in the sewers under Gotham?"
"It has been removed from all civic maps and was built in the forties with the looming threat of nuclear war and forgotten." Batman remarked as we travelled to an exit. "It seemed secure enough to allow us to meet without being bombed all clustered together."
"Are you going to complain if I kill these invaders?" I asked.
"No. I will attempt to avoid killing them, but you are under no obligations. This is war and the niceties of civilisation are the first thing to go. I would ask you to at least behave by the laws as stated in the Geneva Conventions."
"Fine, but we have no idea yet whether we are dealing with clone armies bred for war or a more conventional army." I pointed out.
"No, I have identified some nineteen individuals within the foot soldiers with no more than a passing resemblance. If they were clones they would be uniform to a much higher degree." Batman replied.
We reached an outflow pipe that opened onto the bay.
"Gather around. I'll pick up the both of you in the barrier with me." I explained. "Also knowing our direction would help."
"Into the thick of things." Diana replied. "This city is still under assault, we will clear it first."
"The others have already reached New York and begun their attack." Gunnr pointed out.
Batman held a finger to his ear and listened. "I can confirm that."
"I am not named Gunnr because I like war, I connected to the Concept of War on a fundamental level. All Valkyries are to a degree." My divine bodyguard explained. "This includes sight of battles from beginning to end and being present there at all times. When we involve ourselves this changes the outcome of the vision, of course. For example My Lord, you died if I did not intervene. It also means that this battle was from that moment outside my precognition. But the next battle that follows is not."
Diana's eyes boggled. "That isn't how Gudra and her fellow Valkyries were or we would have lost the war!"
"Pfft. Those were Valkyries in name only. Summoned by the Spear of Destiny? Constructs of that Nazi madman's imagination brought to life that imitated us. The Spear is inherently not of Norse origin, it is close to The Presence: an aspect of the creator god of Christians." Gunnr scoffed. "I am Gunnr, of the Eminent Six. I am the Valkyrie of War, right hand of Odin himself."
"Ladies… to business, yes?" I asked.
"Of course." Diana nodded stiffly.
Gunnr smiled, stroking the head of her wolf steed. "I am ready. Let us enter battle once more!"
"Let's get going, time is crucial now." Batman adds.
"Okay. Do you have any way to contact the other team?" I asked.
"I have given both The Flash and Superman a comlink. A friend is keeping us updated on the situation." Hmm. Alfred or Lucius Fox? I'd bet Fox.
"Okay, every one I'll move us to a forward location." I envelop the human and the probable nascent-titan inside a barrier and move into the Gotham skyline.
Somewhere the city is burning. Not that it looks any different from regular Gotham.
"Take us the Gotham PD building. Wonder Woman and I can help best by coordinating with the police force." Batman points out.
Diana nods. "Yes, we will join them and push the invaders back."
"If My Lord is needed, I will bring it to his attention. Meanwhile we shall purge the skies of all who oppose us." Gunnr announced.
"I have another comlink, but I believe your magnetic field will severely reduce its effective range." Batman added.
"Ping it, right now." He held it out and transmitted to it, tapping at his ear.
"I know the frequency now. If you need a lift ping twice, air support ping thrice." I grinned. "If it's an emergency ping once."
Batman nodded tersely as I set down on the building and a man who I suspect is Commissioner Gordon is waiting, with a few officers.
"Got your message Batman. We don't have much that'll stop these bad guys." Gordon greets us.
"Detective Gordon. The four of us are here to help." I nod as he looks us over.
"Old Gotham is a mess and half the Narrows is burning out of control, at least the gang problem is actually working in our favour for once. Too many armed thugs for the blue space invaders to deal with quickly." Gordon explained. "Some of the more 'civilised' groups like the Mob are reaching out to us to join forces. In this case I actually agree with 'em. We're banding together as many as we can. Crime doesn't matter so much when you have a ray gun aimed at your head. So I've ordered an amnesty for the moment. I had to do it in lieu of the Mayor and Commissioner who can't be found."
Batman held a hand to his ear and made a transmission back to the Batcave under his breath, I think. "Give us the details to the nearest hot spots and we'll be there. My transport arrives in five minutes."
"I have the skies. See you soon." I pointed out, before rising swiftly, as Gordon took a drag on his cigarette, watching in mild, bemused awe. Moments later, alien ships rained down over the city in pieces.
On the ground below some people fled in terror or cowered in fear, one in particular cavorted with glee on the streets.
"Such an amazing sight! All these people just losing their minds!" The Joker chortled, before raising a pistol and blasting the nearest blue thing. Unfortunately it was a police officer. "Oopsie! That was a mistake, but you'll forgive me won't you?" He crooned as he walked over to the police woman pleading for help, unable to breathe she clawed at the air. "Aw, you're no fun. Tata." He blew her brains out. Then began to skip down the street. "This is the life!" He exclaimed with a laugh.
268
Location: Gotham, tearing the enemy to shreds,
Time: Invasion Day 9:20 PM (~6 hours since it began)
The gloom has only gotten deeper as time passes under the endless eclipse. Martian Manhunter joins me in the air, it seems he has succeeded in infiltrating the ground forces and has their main bases of operation in the city. No one can really prepare sufficiently for a telepathic, shape shifter spy.
While less effective in the air, he is still quite powerful crippling the ships with telekinetic waves and changing the perceptions of the alien pilots to view the other ships as hostile. Several vessels are downed by 'friendly' fire and a few more when he lures them close enough I can reach them.
Seeing all of these flimsy space fighters I have a suspicion they are disposable, they probably don't even have a hyperspace drive on-board. Now the Mothership on the other hand is probably essential, acting as carrier and possibly home to their species. I'd lay even odds these are raiders of some kind, trying to batter us into surrender by targeting the major nations and civilian population centres.
[Magnus, I require you to destroy this structure.] Martian Manhunter sends to me. I suppress a grin as I look down at whatshername's bar before sending the nearest alien ship on a kamikaze run. As she so ridiculously tried to tell me not so long ago… welcome to the big leagues.
The resulting explosion and destruction flushes several aliens into retreat, the power lines I send after them make that more permanent as I string them up by their necks for all to see. As long as they continue to fight, even Batman can't argue with the fact that they are asking to die. Besides as the Chinese used to say, 'kill one man to warn a thousand'.
I turn to look over the city and find a new threat, a sniper nest on the roof of a particularly large building. They seem to be attacking anyone on the streets below, but a few take some potshots at me that Gunnr blocks with dismissive ease with her shield.
Eh… screw it. I just rip the entire top of the building free, giving the aliens a good look as they run and panic like ants before they fall into gravity's arms and smash on the road below with the rubble. Rebar is my friend.
I spot the massive troop transport in retreat, which causes me to blink.
On it's tail a glowing green figure.
Oh my gosh, it's a Green Lantern.
Yes. (fist pump) Just what we need.
He raises his hand and from the ring projects the construct of an artillery piece, which strikes the ship and slams through the shields to tear through the hull. Dozens of aliens fall from the wrecked section along with debris.
Huh. I thought they couldn't kill by design.
Wait, I've got it. It's Original Green Lantern from WW2.
He's come out of retirement to kick ass and take names. Interesting. I guess in a situation like this he would be motivated to help. His ring's AI is damaged, so there wouldn't be any limiters on his actions.
Yes, the older look is very obvious as I move in closer.
Unfortunately the damaged vessel escapes, but not that important.
He swings my way, ring raised before lowering it and smiling. Tiny mask that covers nothing but his eyes. Typical Lantern, barely hiding their identity.
"Good to see a friendly face! These nasty blue men started shooting up my neighbourhood, so I really had to do something about it." He grinned. "Ring still works and I've got enough juice in it to send them crying back to mama!"
Huh, so he lived in Gotham too?
"Green Lantern, right?" He nodded at my words. "I'm working with Wonder Woman and Batman as well as other heroes. We're banding together to push them back where they came from. Any help you can provide we would appreciate!"
"Diana's with you? Well in that case I'm in this to the hilt!" He responded cheerfully. "If any of the other old codgers crawl out in their walking frames and wheelchairs, say hi from me!"
Okay, these aliens have really knocked over the hornet's nest because everyone is crawling out to fight back.
I receive a request for air support from Batman, surprisingly at this moment.
"Hey, I'm needed elsewhere. If you see a green alien guy flying around he's with us." I added. Didn't want a friendly fire issue of our own.
He nodded. "Get going then. I'll find a way to keep myself busy."
As I flew away he turned to face a strafing fighter and channelling his will formed a baseball bat construct that smashed it into burning debris.
I followed the signal to find the majority of the Gotham PD and their officers pinned down by several aliens in what looked like pillboxes? They have fabrication tech that can make static defences? That could be bad if they employ it on a large scale to dig in.
I see Wonder Woman is taking shelter under her shield and seems to be their primary target.
The structures don't seem to be metallic, which is a shame. They also don't seem to be heavy duty either.
Gunnr needs no urging to leap from her mount and plummet down in a kick that shatters the dome and sinks her into the guts of the structure. Several moments of very heavy impacts you could feel even at my distance and she burst out again, brushing herself off.
The second pillbox received a hail of sharp steel that curved inside through the small windows and sliced the occupants to ribbons.
I came down beside Diana.
"I found an old friend of yours helping out, Green Lantern? He says hi." I explained.
Her face, changed from grim to a pleased smile. "Truly? It has been quite a while. When we have time, I must seek him out for a chat. Your aid was well executed and timely, also."
I looked around but couldn't spot Batman at first, only noticing him by checking for life signs.
Moving to him, perched on a roof edge beside a gargoyle I reported. "Manhunter has learned all he could of their current movements and has explored their motivations. I also have found Green Lantern from the old days fighting and recruited him."
"Good. I was aware of Green Lantern in my city, but not that he was still able to use his powers. I will need that information from Martian Manhunter asap. Simply reacting to their feints we fell into this trap." Batman replied. "We need to do better than this or we'll only be bogged down."
I nodded, Gunnr materialising at my side as we flew back toward where we last saw J'onn.
He was busy, playing matador with fighters and beam weapons utilising his phasing ability.
With a cry to Odin, Gunnr charged on her wolf. She lowered Gungnir like a lance as she aggressively advanced at supersonic speeds.
The impact of mystical weapon and mounted Valkyrie tore through the nearest vessel like paper and continued on, turning to strike a second and third. The last bugging out, seeing the carnage she could inflict and wanting no part of it.
Last edited: Apr 14, 2019
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