CHAPTER SIX: YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

Mars, October 6, 2008

The surface of the planet Mars was dead silent. Nothing stirred amongst the rust-red stone of the fourth planet from the sun; there was no wind, not even a breeze. The planet was completely dead…

…at least, on the surface.

Deep below the Martian surface, within the ruins of one of the cities of what had been the great Martian civilization, an alarm went off within a facility, where two stasis-chambers – one which had been damaged – rested, each one holding a single occupant. At once, the damaged pod depressurized and opened, allowing the injured humanoid – a female, her old injuries still not healed by the chamber – to emerge. Suppressing a gasp of pain, she checked the control console…

Her eyes widened in utter horror.

Her thoughts first gave way to despair…and then clung to one last shred of hope. Ever since Mars had fallen, she had been sporadically calling for her mate, resting in the chamber for a few months at a time when her injuries became too much to bear, but her call had been so weak…forcing her to give up, and set the chamber to only wake her in an emergency.

But she had no other choice. Gathering every ounce of her strength, she focused her thoughts and sent them towards her world’s neighbouring planet – Earth – where her mate – her life-partner, her unending love – had fallen…

…and hoped with all of her being that he could hear her.

XXXXXXXX

Xavier Institute

The Thursday afternoon sun was high over the Institute by the time the X-Men and the New Mutants had gotten back from school…just in time for training.

Under normal circumstances, that would have sent a collective groan through the younger New Mutants, but this time, there were two key differences: One, Scott and Jean had gone to check out several universities, as they would be graduating this year and wanted to see what was being offered before they made out their applications…

…and Two, today, they had four special guests.

As the New Mutants, in uniform, walked towards the Danger Room, Lorna – or “Polaris,” now – smiled. “Are the Four really coming here?”

Havok grinned. “Believe it, Lorna.” he answered. “They’re probably already here, by now.”

As her smile turned shy, Polaris quickly lowered her gaze, to hide her blush. After formally joining the Institute, Lorna had been introduced to her teammates, the New Mutants…including Hawaiian surfer-hottie Alex Summers.

One more reason she was glad she’d joined.

Ghost smiled sheepishly. “Do you think the Invisible Woman will mind if I asked for her autograph?”

“Nah.” Iceman said. “They probably get that all the time, Tina; I wouldn’t think twice about it.”

“So, why are the Four here?” Husk inquired.

“Well, I think I heard that Professor Xavier used to be one of Mr. Fantastic’s teachers in university.” Jubilee thought aloud. “They probably stay in touch, every so often.”

Cannonball nodded. “Plus, Ah think that this might be a follow-up to their visit, last year.”

“Come again?” Leap asked.

“Dr. Richards and his team were curious about Kryptonian physiology,” Magma said, “so Kal allowed them to take scans of his internal anatomy, as well as a sample of his hair.”

Berzerker snickered. “I gotta admit, it was funny watching Ben trying to yank that hair off Kal’s head.”

“I’ll say.” Sunspot agreed. “Didn’t know the guy could turn red.”

Angel chuckled. “That must have been a sight.”

Leviathan nodded. “Can’t believe we missed it.”

“I’m still not getting why the Four needed to follow-up, though.” Boom-Boom said.

“Due to Superman’s invulnerable frame, Dr. Richards and his team were unable to take a blood-sample.” Android explained. “After the revelation that Alison is part-Kryptonian, with a somewhat-less-durable epidermal layer, they wish to try again.”

Leap shuddered. “I hope Ali doesn’t mind being a pincushion; if it were me, I couldn’t – I hate needles.”

“But what’s the big deal?” Multiple asked. “How come Reed and the rest of the Four want to take a look at Ali’s blood?”

“Reed’s a scientist, little guy.” Iceman said. “Kal and Ali are the only remaining Kryptonians left, and since we don’t have a needle thick enough to get through Big Blue’s skin, Ali volunteered.”

Wolfsbane nodded. “The good doctor be especially interested in Alison’s immune system; if it be anything like ‘ow Kal’s works, observing it may give new insight in ‘ow t’ fight disease.”

At that, Boom-Boom glanced back towards Siryn, who had been silent the entire time, her arms folded crossly. “What about you, ‘Doom-ette’? What do you think of the Fantastic Four dropping by?”

Siryn glared at Boom-Boom. “I think that it’s appalling, how some minds are so easily enthralled by such dolts. How Kal finds the patience to tolerate your antics is utterly beyond me.” And with that, she strode ahead of them, leaving them behind.

“Whoa!” Leap exclaimed. “What’s her problem?”

“Guess we should’ve seen that coming,” Leviathan said, “what with her old man and Reed’s family practically being mortal enemies.”

“Uh, boy.” Havok murmured. “Won’t this be fun.”

By then, they had reached the control room, where the rest of the X-Men – minus Cyclops, Phoenix, and Krypto, who was currently assisting Flash on patrol – had gathered, along with Superman, the Martian Manhunter, Beast, Wolverine, Storm, Mystique, Professor Xavier, and the Fantastic Four.

Power Girl absently rubbed her arm, likely where the syringe had been. “You got enough for the test, right, Reed?”

As he pored over the computer console, monitoring the analysis currently being run, Reed nodded. “Again, Alison, we can’t thank you enough for co-operating; before now, we’ve never been able to observe Kryptonian physiology on a cellular level.”

Beast nodded. “I must say, I’m quite curious, myself.”

Superman looked concerned. “I just hope we’re clear on this, Reed; whatever records you take, make sure that Alison’s privacy is kept safe. Ali’s got enough to worry about without there being any records indicating that she’s part Kryptonian.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Susan assured them. “Whatever we observe, today, there won’t be any mention of Alison’s name, and the blood sample we took will be incinerated once we’ve completed the analysis; you have nothing to worry about.”

Power Girl smiled. “Thanks.”

“Kal?” Reed asked. “I’m afraid that the computer is going to need a little boost to handle the analysis…”

“Way ahead of you, Reed.” Superman chuckled, as he took out a fair-sized, cylindrical crystal, walking over to the console.

Siryn perked up as she saw the crystal. “What is that?”

It was then that Johnny took notice of Siryn, and smiled. “Oh, that’s just one of Supes’ crystal supercomputers, from his place up in the…”

But he was silenced as the massive rocky hand of Ben Grimm lightly smacked the back of his head, cutting off the 20-year-old blond hothead’s babbling. “Give the lady the guy’s e-mail address, why don’t ya, Flame-Brain!” Ben grumbled.

“What? I was just making conversation!”

Susan’s sapphire eyes narrowed as she half-glared at her brother. “Johnny…” she warned.

As he reached the computer console, Superman took out the fist-sized crystalline adapter for the crystal-processor, before inserting it into the nearest data-port, and then placing the crystal on the adapter, letting it simply float there. Tapping the processor with his finger, Superman brought up the glowing blue holographic interface, which encircled the crystal with Kryptonian symbols; he simply tapped one symbol, then dragged another to insert it into a space in the hologram that had just appeared, the interface shifting and expanding as he worked. Tapping another symbol, he caused a second holographic menu to appear; tapping a few symbols on that menu, Superman caused a fairly large holographic view-screen to appear in front of them. “Okay, Reed, we’re ready to begin analysis.”

“Understood, Kal; I’ll begin sending the data, now.”

“Wow…” Polaris whispered.

“Yeah.” Iceman agreed. “It’s easy to forget just how advanced Big Blue’s people were.”

From his own console, Beast monitored the analysis…or at least, he tried to, as his eyes simply couldn’t keep up with the mind-numbingly-fast pace of the crystal-processor. After a few seconds, all he could do was simply report, “It’s done.”

Siryn’s eyes widened. “It completed a full biochemical and physiological analysis in a matter of seconds?” she asked. She smiled slyly. “I’m impressed.”

“So were we, the first time we saw it work.” Avalanche said.

“We should be getting a visual recording, now.” Superman noted.

Reed nodded. “This will be our first look at the cellular structure of a Kryptonian, tentative species classification Homo Krypton.”

Siryn’s eyes narrowed. “‘Homo Krypton’?” she snapped. “That’s the best you could come up with, Richards? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

The rest of the Four glared at Siryn at that remark, but Superman quickly defused the tension. “Hey, it beats anything I’ve ever come up with.”

“Still, it raises an interesting point.” Mystique said. “What did your people call themselves as a species, Kal?”

Superman laughed. “My people classified species by using a language even more archaic than Latin is, Mystique…and it was even harder to speak.” he quipped. “Sure, I could tell you our species-name, but you’d never be able to pronounce it; heck, even I have trouble with it.”

Sue chuckled at that, before glancing to J’onn. “If you wouldn’t mind, J’onn, we’d like to talk to you for a few minutes, as well.”

“Uh, boy.” Spyke murmured. “I’d run for it, if I were you, Big Green.”

“I’ll say.” Ben joked. “Stretch and Susie have been buggin’ Supes about bein’ from ‘out of town’ for the past two years, and now they’ve dragged Blondie into it; you don’t know what you’re in for.”

J’onn simply chuckled. “I would be glad to answer any questions you have, Dr. Richards.”

Power Girl chuckled. “Okay, but when you get turned into a pincushion, don’t say we didn’t warn you!”

By then, Reed had finished his calculations. “We should be getting the feed right about…now!”

As if on cue, the holo-screen switched on, showing the images of numerous bright-red-colored, flattened discs – red blood cells – floating in a sea of plasma, with numerous readouts appearing on the side of the screen. “Hmm…there doesn’t appear to be any significant difference in erythrocyte cell-structure…” Reed mused.

“Erythro-what??” Multiple murmured.

“That’s the scientific name for red blood cells, Jamie.” Shadowcat explained.

“Oh.”

Sue nodded in agreement with her husband’s observation. “Other than an increased cell-count and considerably higher levels of hemoglobin, I’m not seeing any real differences.”

Power Girl smiled sheepishly. “I guess I don’t take after Kon-Lir in that regard, too much.”

Just then, a larger cell, globular and paler in colour, floated by, followed by another one just like it. “Leukocyte count is up a fair bit,” Reed continued, “but the overall spread of cell sub-types is about the same: neutrophils, macrophages, B and T lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils…”

“Okay, now you’re just tryin’ to give us headaches.” Rogue quipped.

“Stripes’ right, Stretch.” Wolverine muttered. “Speak English, would you?”

“Leukocytes are white blood cells.” Storm said. “Dr. Richards was just mentioning the different sub-types: neutrophils and macrophages act to engulf and destroy invading pathogens.”

“Vait, I zhink ve covered zhis in Biology.” Nightcrawler said. “B and T lymphocytes…zhose are B cells and T cells! B cells make antibodies, and T helper cells activate the rest of zhe immune system, while killer T cells destroy bacteria and infected cells!”

Sue smiled. “That’s correct, Kurt.” she said. “And what do the others do?”

“Gambit ain’ no doctor,” Gambit said, “but if ‘e ‘member right, de bas’phils make histamin’, which be where ‘llergies come from; de ‘sinophils go after bigger bugs, like tapeworms.”

“Correct.” Reed confirmed. “Basophils are often triggered by Immunoglobulin E – a type of antibody – to release histamine, which causes vasodilation of blood vessels – which is part of an allergic reaction, but mostly acts to increase blood supply, and thus leukocyte levels, to an infected area, while eosinophils are activated by IgE to attack multicellular parasites, such as tapeworms.”

Mystique nodded thoughtfully. “It sounds like the Kryptonian immune system is remarkably similar to our own.”

Superman nodded. “Though we had different names for the different cell-types, in terms of immune-cellular structure, our two peoples were nearly identical.” he agreed, before he smiled. “There was, however, one big difference.”

“Well, what is it?” Johnny asked. Superman simply looked to the screen, his eyes narrowing, before he smiled, and gestured to it…as a very large, pale neon-yellow cell, about half again the size of a leukocyte, and globular in shape, floated by.

“That.”

Reed’s eyes went wide as several more of the strange cells floated by. “What are those?”

“We call them kaer’yan cells.” Superman explained. “The word ‘kaer’yan’ is a Kryptonian word which means ‘small commander’. Kaer’yan cells were the first cells on the scene, either during a breach of the skin or during an infection; a chemical signal activated by the presence of an unfamiliar entity in the bloodstream attracts them.”

“We did notice some chemical irregularities in the plasma itself.” Reed observed.

Superman nodded. “The kaer’yans’ first action is to release a widely-dispersed signal that attracts neutrophils and macrophages to the infection site, as well as a local signal that enhances their proliferation and phagocytic activity; basically, it makes them hungrier, and makes them multiply faster.”

“At this point, the kaer’yans begin gulping up the invaders, like the neutrophils and macrophages do.” Superman continued. “Now, the neutrophils are engaged solely in phagocytosis, but the macrophages have the double-function of pushing the cellular “tags” – or antigens – specific to the invading pathogen to its surface, and then begin the process of searching out the B and T cells that recognize this antigen.”

“And what do the kaer’yans do?” Sue asked.

“They do something a little different.” Superman answered. “They have a kind of variable internal receptor; the receptor first bonds weakly to the antigen, and then modifies itself until it’s got a good hold on it. The cell then sends out a wide-spread signal specific to that antigen that activates B and T cells, as well as the body’s complement proteins, and the immune response goes on from there. When the pathogens are neutralized, the kaer’yans sense the levels of activating signal in the blood dropping, and send out signals that suppress the rest of the immune cells and speed up repair of the damage incurred during the response.”

“Smart little cells.” Ben said.

“Dude, no wonder you never get sick.” Havok added

Reed looked thoughtful. “Would these kaer’yan cells be susceptible to the HIV?”

“Not an issue, Reed.” Superman answered. “For one thing, unlike the rest of the body, which operates at near neutral pH, the kaer’yans’ cytoplasm is highly alkaline; even if the HIV could gain access, its RNA and reverse transcriptase enzymes would denature the second it got in…and that’s just assuming that its internal defence proteases and RNases didn’t chop them up, first.”

Sue’s eyes widened. “They’re alkaline??”

“Why not?” Superman asked. “There are bacteria that live in high temperatures and high salt concentrations, aren’t there? Why can’t there be cells that maintain a high pH independent of other cells?”

“Amazing…” Reed murmured. “Would it be possible for these cells to be transplanted in a patient with end-stage HIV infection..?”

Superman shook his head. “Sorry, Reed, but it wouldn’t work.” he answered. “For one thing, the kaer’yans require much more energy than the rest of the cells in the body do to function, on an individual scale; without the energy I absorb from the sun, and the energy Ali transmutes from sonic vibrations, our kaer’yan cells would go dormant.” His expression then turned grave. “Even if you could find a way to fuel them, the kaer’yan cells are notorious for causing rejection-disease; they would identify the recipient as ‘non-self,’ and mount an immune response against the very patient you were trying to save.” He glanced to Power Girl. “That was one of the things I was worried about when we learned you were part Kryptonian, Ali.”

Power Girl nodded, her expression mirroring his. “Yeah.” she agreed; although she was okay with being part Kryptonian now, at the time, it had been somewhat scary, especially when her immune system had started kicking it up a notch. “I can remember how sick I was; I felt horrible…”

“That must have been quite the sight.” Siryn said, ignoring the glare that Alison sent her way. As Superman deactivated the holo-screen, minimizing the crystal-processor’s holo-interface, Siryn’s smile returned. “That is simply a fascinating device, Kal; may I..?”

“It wouldn’t do you any good, Siryn.” Superman said, lightly frowning. “Every piece of Kryptonian technology – down to the simplest food-synthesizer – is Bio-Coded; keyed specifically to recognize only Kryptonian DNA – no non-Kryptonian can utilize it.”

Siryn’s smile collapsed. “What an…innovative countermeasure.” she said. “As one would expect from such a…wise people.”

Reed’s expression was caught between dismayed and thoughtful. “Hmm…it may be possible to alter the internal physiology of the helper T cell so that the HIV will denature when it gains access…”

Sue nodded. “It might be possible to develop a treatment that targets the thymus gland, where the T cells mature…”

“If we can alter them during maturation, we wouldn’t need gene therapy…”

“…and we could avoid the dangers involved..!”

“Uh, boy.” Johnny sighed. “Here they go.”

Professor Xavier just chuckled at his old student. “Well, sounds like you both have an idea.”

“Yep.” Ben agreed. “They’re good for a couple of days.”

Glancing to Power Girl, Reed said, “Thank you, Alison; you may have just inspired a new way to fight AIDS.”

Power Girl smiled. “Glad we could be of help.” she replied. “If anyone can figure out a cure, it’d be you guys.”

Siryn simply scowled.

Turning to J’onn, Sue smiled. “If you had time, J’onn, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your people; human astronomers have been looking up at Mars for the better part of the past 50 years, and we’re interested to hear from an expert, if you don’t mind.”

J’onn smiled back. “Not at all.” he answered. “I would be glad to…” but he suddenly stopped, his expression growing distant.

Professor Xavier looked concerned. “Are you alright, J’onn?”

J’onn didn’t answer; his mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.

“You okay, Big Green?” Iceman asked.

Ghost looked stricken. “If something’s wrong, please, tell us…”

J’onn’s expression suddenly turned firm. “All of you, please, keep quiet.” he said. “I must concentrate.”

Mystique looked concerned. “J’onn..?”

“Please!” their Martian friend insisted. “I must have utter focus, so in Vothanos’ name, keep your voices and thoughts silent!”

That made them all freeze; J’onn was often the quietest, most soft-spoken individual they had ever met – if this was something that had made him use the name Vothanos – the Martians’ name for God – then it had to be important. “You all heard him.” Professor Xavier said. “All of you, raise your mental shields and keep your thoughts as quiet as possible.”

The entire room went utterly silent as J’onn concentrated, his crimson eyes closed tight; only Professor Xavier could sense what J’onn was doing from behind his mental barrier – J’onn was reaching out with his telepathy to the stars above, listening…

Suddenly, J’onn gasped, his eyes going wide. “Can…Can it be..?” he murmured.

“What is it?” Leap asked.

The Martian Manhunter turned to Superman. “Kal, we have to get to Mars. Now.”

Superman was instantly concerned. “What’s going on?”

“I just received a telepathic message from Mars; at least one of my people is still alive.”

“What?” Power Girl exclaimed.

“Are you sure?” Reed asked.

“I sensed her telepathic call myself, Reed! I’m sure!” J’onn shouted.

“Hey, take it easy, big fella.” Ben said. “No need to get riled up.”

At that, J’onn calmed. “My…my apologies,” he said, “but we must get to Mars as soon as possible.”

Superman nodded. “The Argo should have no problems in getting us there; did this other Martian give any details on the situation?”

“No; she was too weak to keep the signal going long enough.” J’onn answered. “We have to mount a rescue mission, immediately.”

“We will.” Superman agreed. “We should only involve a few members of the League; Green Lantern has the best mobility in space – him plus the two of us should be fine.”

“Not alone, you won’t be.” Sue said.

Reed nodded. “The four of us will be glad to assist.”

Johnny chuckled. “Besides, Reed’ll have a hissy-fit if you guys go to Mars without him.”

“Can it, Matchstick. This is serious.” Ben said.

“I’ll go, too.” Mystique said.

“As vill I.” Nightcrawler said.

Superman nodded, and then turned to Gambit. “Remy, your ability will be useful in case we need precise demolitions…”

“Say no more, homme; Gambit be glad t’ ‘ssist.”

“Good.” Superman said, before turning to Rogue. “We may need to double up on some tasks, Rogue; you up for it?”

Rogue chuckled. “Whah not?”

“The others should remain here,” Storm suggested, “in case anything happens while your team is temporarily understaffed, Kal.”

“Okay by us.” Avalanche said.

Superman looked concerned. “We may need one or two more, preferably who have a good handle on extra-terrestrial environments.” he thought aloud.

“Perhaps I might be of help, Kal.” Android said. “My initial directives involved extra-terrestrial infiltration.”

“Okay, Mark.” Superman agreed.

“Well, the rest of us probably won’t be any help.” Angel said.

“Yeah.” Leap agreed. “Visiting other planets wasn’t covered in any session we’ve ever…”

“Ahem.” Siryn spoke up. “I might be of some use.”

Superman frowned. “Siryn…”

Siryn’s expression hardened. “I am capable of levitation, teleportation, energy-projection, and a myriad of other abilities; furthermore, my training before coming here included extra-orbital simulations – granted, my Papa held his doubts that I would ever actually need such training, but he left nothing overlooked. Deny that you could use me, if you can.”

Power Girl fixed Siryn with a glare, but Superman remained silent. “Alright.” he said softly.

Siryn beamed. “I knew you would see reason.” she cooed. “I will go and prepare; rest assured Kal, I won’t let you down…” she fixed the Four, Reed in particular, with a glare, before she finished her sentence archly, “…unlike some.” With that, she walked off.

“Sheesh! What’s her problem?” Johnny muttered.

Ben frowned. “Hey, Supes, is that Doom’s kid?”

“Yep.”

Sue frowned. “And we actually want her on this mission?”

“We don’t have time to argue.” Reed said. “If this other Martian is in trouble, we may need all the help we can get.”

J’onn nodded. “I will notify the rest of the League as to what has happened; we will head to the Watchtower, to prep for departure.”

Superman turned to Power Girl. “Ali, I may need a little help getting the Argo ready.”

Power Girl nodded. “No problem, tausha; I’ll help.” With that, Superman and Power Girl turned to leave.

“J’onn?” Mystique asked. “You said that this other Martian was a ‘she’; did you know her?”

J’onn’s expression turned pained. “Yes.” he whispered. “Her name is Xi’aa.” His next words shocked them all.

“She is my wife.”

XXXXXXXX

North Pole

Within minutes of departing from the Institute, Superman and Power Girl were flying over the polar ice, fast approaching the Fortress of Solitude, flying in silence as they considered what J’onn had told them.

Ever since they had rescued him from the F.O.H.-occupied Roswell facility, J’onn hadn’t gone into much detail about his past; he had mentioned his wife and daughter – Xi’aa and K’imm – but he hadn’t mentioned much more than that, because it was more than likely too painful for him.

Superman knew what it was to lose an entire world…but it was one thing to have learned of that loss from far away.

It was quite another to have watched it happen, and been unable to stop it.

“Tausha?” Power Girl asked. “Do you really think that J’onn’s wife is okay?”

Superman looked worried. “I sure hope so, taushi.”

Power Girl nodded. “I guess we’ll find out, when we get there.”

Superman’s expression turned stricken.

“You did want me to come with you…didn’t you?”

Superman stopped his flight, hovering in mid-air, prompting Power Girl to stop, hovering in front of him. “I’m sorry, Ali,” he said, “but I need you to stay here.”

Power Girl looked stricken. “You just expect me to let LeRoux go to Mars with you alone?”

“We won’t be alone, taushi; Reed and his team, along with J’onn, Green Lantern, Rogue, Remy, Kurt, and Mark will be there, too, remember?” Superman gently chided. “You can trust me.”

“It’s not you that I don’t trust, tausha.” Power Girl retorted. “You saw how interested she got about that crystal-processor! Do you really want to let her get a look at the Argo?”

Gently placing his hands on her shoulders, Superman looked into her eyes. “Alia,” he said softly, “I would love to have your help on this mission, but I need someone to help the League while we’re gone; we’re going to be missing three of us as it is, and if something happens, I know I can trust you to help.”

Power Girl smiled wistfully. “Cheater.” she muttered. “You don’t fight fair.”

“What? It’s true.” Superman said innocently.

Power Girl chuckled. “I’m still not happy about you being on a mission with…her.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled about it either, Ali,” Superman said, “but she’s right about one thing: she is good.”

Power Girl sighed, frowning; like it or not, her Clarkie was right – Siryn was currently the closest New Mutant to making X-Man. Her skill was unquestionable. “Is it too much to hope for an airlock-related accident?”

Superman laughed. “Ali…”

“What?”

Superman just chuckled. “Let’s just get going.” With that, they resumed flight, heading for the Fortress at top speed.

Within minutes, they had reached the massive, crystalline stronghold, where Superman promptly decoded the intricate lock, letting them into the Fortress’ Main Hall, with the lock re-randomizing itself behind them. “Fortress,” Superman instructed, replacing the crystal-processor into a nearby terminal, letting the Fortress reintegrate it into its systems, “prepare eleven Atmospheric Field-Generators, equipped with emergency teleporter-beacon in event of failure; key beacon to the Argo’s teleporter unit, and set for immediate retrieval in event of field failure. Send Generators directly to Vehicle Bay.”

“Acknowledged.”

Turning to Power Girl, Superman added, “Last I checked, the Argo was good to go, but we should still perform a pre-flight check on her.”

“Right.” Power Girl agreed. With that, the two of them headed to the Vehicle Bay.

Arriving in the Bay, Superman saw the eleven black disc-like Generators lying on the side workbench, just a few feet away from a small-house-sized, parallelogram-shaped craft, with a white, crystal-metal-hybrid hull, a highly-resistant screen in the fore of the ship, about a foot above where the lower end tapered to a point, whereas the aft of the ship was a bit more spread out, with a few crystalline spokes at the aft end.

Power Girl gave the vessel a once-over with her X-Ray vision…before smiling approvingly. “You’ve been tweaking her.”

Superman shrugged. “I just had to make a few adjustments on her Trans-Warp Drive,” he admitted, before gesturing to the rear spokes, “plus, I gave her a secondary ion-based propulsion system; it’s not as powerful as her main engines, but it’s no slouch, and it’s quiet – good for sneaking past unsuspecting space-cruisers, as well as deep-sea missions. I’ve also modified a few Maintenance Drones to adhere to a second ship’s hull and extend the Argo’s protective field around it during Trans-Warp.”

Power Girl nodded, before bringing up a nearby computer terminal mounted in the wall, bringing up the diagnostic holographics. “EPM levels?” she called out.

Superman quickly brought up a second holographic interface. “I’m reading both Entropic Power Modules at 100 percent.”

“Propulsion?”

“In the green.”

“Comms?”

“Clear.”

“Shields and armour?”

“Running strong.”

“Weapons and countermeasures?”

“Locked and loaded.”

“Trans-Warp Drive?”

“Running hot and steady.

Power Girl nodded. “Think we should include a few Sensor Drones? We should be able to cover a wider area that way.”

Superman nodded. “We might want to bring a couple of Swarms, too, just in case; anything could be out there…like our old pal Ronan.”

Power Girl shuddered. “Don’t remind me.” she muttered. “Still, the Swarm-Drones are a good idea.” She quickly began entering the comands instructing the Bay to begin loading the Argo with four Sensor-Drones and two Swarm-Class Attack Drones.

“Sounds like that covers it.” Superman said, switching off his terminal. “We’d better get going.” At that, Power Girl nodded, before switching off her own terminal, letting the Argo’s blue-white teleporter beam engulf both her and Superman, bringing them both into the ship’s off-white, crystalline cockpit. Sitting down in the pilot’s seat, Superman placed his hand on the activation panel on the crystalline control console, bringing up the ship’s holographic HUD on the wind-screen as Power Girl sat down in the co-pilot’s seat. As Superman powered up the Argo’s engines, its twin engine-pods extended out from the sides of the ship, before the ship began to hover above the floor, as Superman guided it out, flying it up into outer space, towards the Watchtower.

They had a rescue to carry out.

XXXXXXXX

Watchtower, earth orbit

‘This shouldn’t bother me.’ Mystique thought to herself, as she stood in front of the Monitor Womb’s viewing-window, looking down at the Earth below.

After she and the rest of their little rescue-team had arrived at the Watchtower via the Javelin-1, J’onn and Green Lantern had briefed them on what to expect during a space-mission, what to watch out for; after that, the Fantastic Four had headed to the Tower’s vehicle bay, to retrieve whatever they would need from their vehicle, the Fantasticar. Presently, things were quiet on the world below, and the rest of the League had joined them aboard the station…but at the moment, Mystique was by herself.

She really had no reason to feel glum. ‘So J’onn wants to rescue his wife. There’s nothing wrong with that.’

That was what she told herself, at least.

Her experience with men was minimal, at the best; initially, that hadn’t been her decision – as there hadn’t been many willing to date a girl with blue skin – but later in life, she’d given up on romance entirely. Sure, she’d had a – thankfully – brief fling with Sabretooth, but that had been job-related – he’d been after a target she had been assigned to protect…and that admittedly-unholy union had created a child she’d abandoned to Victor’s tender mercies…to her unending shame.

Her next choice had been better, she admitted; in a human guise, she’d met and seduced a prominent German businessman while carrying out corporate espionage; she’d genuinely felt something for him, and it had seemed mutual, despite the fact that he would have likely thrown her to the dogs had he known her true colours…

…but that had all changed the very second that her little Kurt had been born, forever shattering Raven’s faith in men…

…until J’onn had come into her life.

Even then, Raven had told herself, after getting to know him a bit, that she and J’onn were just too different to work out, even without the fact that he was from Mars. In the past, she’d used her powers for her own benefit, while J’onn had used them in defence of his world; she’d been a mercenary, believing in only herself, where he’d been a Martian patriot, sworn to serve and protect his world, even at the cost of his life.

Still, Raven figured that, if she were ever to come up with her definition of an ideal man, J’onn would fit the bill, or come pretty damn close. He was a kind, gentle soul, with a quiet strength and dignity, and an aura of reassuring command mixed in. He’d been a soldier – a General – and he still had a soul. Not only that, he’d clearly been a wonderful husband and father, if the few times he’d spoken of them were any indication; he’d definitely loved his family – it was all over him.

And, if she was being completely honest with herself, he was a looker, green skin be damned.

But his wife was still alive…and he was clearly still madly in love with her, if the way he’d rushed them up here was any sign of it.

‘It just goes to show you.’ Raven thought bitterly. Every man on the planet was flawed. Sabretooth had had too many flaws to count.

Kurt’s father? A racist bigot.

And J’onn’s flaw? He was taken.

And the real bitch of the matter was that she couldn’t even be mad at him about it; in a world where affairs and divorces were rapidly becoming the norm, a man that devoted to his wife was a rarity, almost to the point where some – including Kitty, Raven knew for a fact – would call it romantic.

Still, Raven should have known better than to start getting her hopes up.

Suddenly, the Watchtower’s proximity alert went off. “Sounds like Big Blue’s gotten his space-buggy up and running.” Flash said. At that, the entire group headed down to the vehicle bay, to meet up with Superman.

They all reached the bay just as the Argo touched down on next to the sleek Fantasticar, before Superman and Power Girl ‘ported out. As she gazed upon the gleaming hull of the Kryptonian Swift-Justice-Class Speeder, Siryn smiled. “Impressive.” she purred. “Much like your Watchtower.”

Hawkgirl frowned. “She never quits, does she?” she asked flatly.

Superman just shook his head, before tapping his belt-communicator; at once, two spiky, spherical, crystalline automatons, each around the size of a medicine ball, flew out of the Argo’s engine pods, and adhered to the hull of the Fantasticar. “These Maintenance Drones have been modified to extend the Argo’s protective field around the Fantasticar, so that it can follow us while we’re in Trans-Warp.”

Reed nodded. “Mighty decent of you.”

Superman and Power Girl then began to distribute the Atmospheric Field-Generators. “Most of you likely know this, but these are Atmospheric Field-Generators; they’ll allow you to breathe on Mars without a space-suit, and they have an emergency beacon that will ‘port you back to the Argo if they become damaged or start to fail.” Superman explained.

“I will not require one.” J’onn said. “My people have adapted to breathing the air on Mars’ surface; it is not exactly pleasant, but I can manage.”

“I will not require one, either,” Android added, “as I do not require oxygen.”

“My energy-fields can provide me with all the air I need.” Green Lantern said. “I’m good as is.”

Superman nodded, lightly chuckling. “Well, I guess we’ll have spares.” he said, before turning to Johnny. “And Johnny, you’ll be happy to know that this will supply enough oxygen use your powers, but it wasn’t designed to fuel your fires, so if you hear it start to beep, and you start feeling dizzy, you need to let it catch up.”

“If it starts beeping, and I’m dizzy, I flame off. Got it.” Johnny agreed, as he and his teammates promptly clipped their generators to their belts, along with the others.

Wonder Woman smiled at her teammates. “Be careful, out there.”

Aquaman nodded. “Try not to make complete asses of yourselves.” he quipped.

Green Lantern chuckled. “We could say the same to you.”

Batman’s expression hadn’t changed. “Get back as soon as you can; we can’t afford to be short-handed for too long.”

Power Girl looked mildly insulted at that, but Superman placed a reassuring hand on her arm; Batman was just being Batman. “We’ll try.” he answered.

Power Girl lightly smiled. “Just come back in one piece, okay?” she whispered.

“I promise.” Superman answered, as he smiled. “I’m sure Wonder Woman won’t mind an extra pair of eyes on her patrol, right?” he added.

Wonder Woman’s smile grew. “Not at all.”

Power Girl’s smile grew at that…and then collapsed into a frown at Siryn’s words. “Don’t worry, Blaire; I’ll look after dear Kal for you.”

Rogue scoffed. “That’s what she’s afraid of, Yer Hahness.”

Gambit chuckled. “Good one, chere.”

J’onn’s expression turned grave. “We cannot delay any longer; we must get going!”

“We will.” Superman assured him, before he nodded to the rest of their team; quickly, the Fantastic Four boarded the Fantasticar, while Superman tapped his belt, activating the Argo’s teleporter beam, ‘porting himself, the Manhunter, Green Lantern, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Mystique, Android, and Siryn into the Speeder, as the rest of the League promptly vacated the vehicle-bay. Once the bay was evacuated, Superman reactivated the Argo’s engines, guiding it into space, followed by the Fantasticar.

In the Argo’s cockpit, Siryn looked around. “Well, this vessel is quite the smooth ride.” she commented. “What did you say it was called?”

“The Argo.” Superman answered. “And as for this ride being smooth, I’d suggest you stay seated; this baby gets a little peppy at trans-light speeds.”

Green Lantern chuckled. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Just then, Reed’s voice came in over the radio. “Fantasticar to Argo; we’re ready when you are.”

“Roger that, Fantasticar.” Superman answered, as he started typing commands into the ship’s control console. “We’re preparing to go to Trans-Warp; stand by.”

Casting a discreet glance towards J’onn, Mystique saw that their Martian comrade was completely silent, deep in thought. Looking away, Mystique sighed to herself; she wanted to speak to him, but she just didn’t have it in her…

“Mother?” Nightcrawler asked. “Are you alright?”

Looking up, Mystique managed a smile. “I’m fine, Kurt; just a little nervous – it’s just my first time going faster than light.”

“Mine, as well.” Siryn added, looking thoughtful. “It is a most interesting notion; after all, it isn’t every day that Einstein is proved incorrect.”

“It would be more accurate to say that Albert Einstein’s conclusions were incomplete.” Android said. “Einstein possessed little to no information of quantum theory at the time of his research; had he possessed such information, he would have undoubtedly revised them.”

By then, Superman had finished his calculations. “Argo to Fantasticar; we’re ready to go to Trans-Warp; hang on to your seats – this could get bumpy.”

Ben’s chuckle came in over the radio. “Hey, it can’t be worse than Matchstick’s driving.”

“Hey!!”

Superman just chuckled, as he started to power up the Argo’s Trans-Warp Drive; outside the ship, twin pylons began to extend away from the engine-pods, quickly energizing, as a faint field briefly appeared around the Speeder, extending around the Fantasticar as well – the Argo’s spatial integrity field, which reinforced its regular shielding, protecting the craft from the stresses of trans-light velocity. “Okay, guys,” Superman warned, “here we go..!” And with that, he activated the Drive.

Outside, the Argo’s pylons flared to life, and the Speeder streaked away at Trans-Warp speeds, towing the Fantasticar with it, heading towards Mars.

XXXXXXXX

Mars

The Martian surface was utterly silent as the globular, semi-organic-metal probe glided across the Red Planet, taking its last few readings of the planet, before flying back up into space, out of orbit, and flitting further into deep space…

…where the dozens of triangular-shaped, semi-organic Chitari fighters, along with several much larger Chitari cruisers, were waiting for it.

As the probe docked with the immense Chitari flagship, aboard the flagship’s bridge, numerous Chitari officers, their flesh-coloured, bulbous, tentacled, multi-pedal forms adorned with green-metal medallions on their upper torsos, scurried about, performing their duties. After checking its data again, its beady eyes squinting as it did, the Chitari sensors-officer – a Lieutenant by Earth standards – scurried to the command chair, crossing its main tentacles and bowing low in a gesture of respectful subservience to the senior officer, whose full, green-metal, single shoulder-pad and dominant pheromones marked it as an Admiral.

As the Admiral nodded in indifferent recognition, the Lieutenant began its report in the guttural, half-spitting babble of the Chitari language, which translated – roughly – as, “The probe has delivered its report, Excellency.”

The Admiral’s eyes narrowed. “And?”

The Lieutenant’s pheromones betrayed joy. “And our contact spoke true; with the exception of one life-sign, the planet is completely dead.”

The Admiral restrained its joy-pheromones; premature celebration was all-too-often fatal. “And the planet’s defence network?”

The Lieutenant quickly checked its data. “It is inactive, Excellency. Based on the reports of our last…excursion to this system, a single life-form will not be able to reactivate it. We need fear nothing from this world.”

The Admiral kept its composure. “Is there any sign of additional threats?” it inquired.

“Negative, Excellency; there is no sign of the Earthlings having detected us. We were able to avoid their pitiful deep-space probes.” the Lieutenant reported. “However, there are traces of anomalous power-signatures in this system…signatures eerily similar to the World-Gate…”

“Pay them no mind, Lieutenant; they are undoubtedly simple sensor irregularities.” the Admiral said firmly. The people of Krypton were dead, and good riddance to them. The Chitari Federation had come to blows on occasion with those insufferably arrogant creatures in their ancient search for a homeworld…and had been soundly beaten each and every time.

It was no small wonder that the word “Krypton” had become a profanity amongst their people; Kryptonian arrogance still lingered, even after their destruction: their revolutionary World-Gate network was forever locked, now no more than a landmark to “non-Kryptonians.”

“Yes, Excellency. My apologies.” the Lieutenant said, before looking up. “There is one other matter that Engineering wished me to broach with you, Excellency, concerning the defence network; our Engineers feel confident that, with a few hours’ work, we can reactivate the network and reconfigure it for long-range fire…of sufficient range to strike Earth. Our sensor readings seem to support this.”

The Admiral’s eyelids momentarily widened in a pleased expression, before it spoke. “What would be required?”

“Merely an Engineering team – eight of our best – and a standard supporting squad; twelve soldiers, no more, Excellency.”

The Admiral nodded in confirmation. “Proceed.” it ordered. “And send another squad to wipe out that last life-form; we lost Earth last time because Infiltrator Kleiser was careless. I will not make that mistake.”

The Lieutenant nodded. “Yes, Excellency! Thank you, Excellency!” With that, the Lieutenant scurried off, to carry out his superior’s orders.

Glancing to the viewing-screen, the Admiral took sight of the magnified view of the beautiful green world they had come for, the world that they would soon call home. For so many years, their people had wandered the stars, searching for a new home, after their old one had lost the ability to sustain them…and now, it was within their grasp.

All they had to do was destroy the pitiful species of bipeds that currently inhabited it…and with the power of this dead world’s defence network, doing so would be child’s play.

XXXXXXXX

The black of space was deathly silent above Mars, illuminated faintly by the light of distant stars…

Suddenly, the very fabric of space rippled as the Argo came out of Trans-Warp, followed by the Fantasticar. Inside the Kryptonian craft, J’onn nearly fell out of his seat; the initial shock of entering Trans-Warp, followed by the incredible shift in inertia upon leaving it, was overpowering.

Siryn was clearly as shaken as he was. “‘Peppy’ is an understatement.” she murmured.

Superman softly chuckled. “Argo to Fantasticar; you guys okay?”

“Last time we let you drive, Supes.” Ben quipped.

Slowly, J’onn rose from his seat, walking towards the front of the cockpit, as he gazed out at the red planet they were now orbiting.

Green Lantern lightly smiled. “Welcome home, J’onn.”

“Okay, Big Green,” Gambit said, “where do we got t’ go?”

His expression turning grave, J’onn pointed to the holographic map of the planet, gesturing to an area near a large mesa. “Here.”

Nodding, Superman began to plot a course down to the planet; slowly, the Argo began to turn into a stable re-entry, followed by the Fantasticar; in minutes, they had entered the atmosphere, and began the careful process of slowing their descent, until their flight-speed was under control, before touching down a few miles away from the impressive rust-coloured Martian mesa.

Powering down the engines, Superman entered the commands to launch the Sensor Drones; outside, four smooth, spherical Sensor Drones flitted out of the launch-pods alongside the Argo’s engine-pods, flying off to scout the area as the ship’s engine-pods retracted. Inside, Superman turned to the others. “Okay, guys; let’s stick together and keep our eyes open, understand?”

“No problem.” Rogue said.

“Affirmative.” Android agreed.

“Okay.” Superman said, before tapping his belt-buckle, activating his nano-suit; immediately, the trillions of nano-bots stored in the buckle began to spread over him like liquid metal, turning his uniform silver, with the crest of the House of El going pure white, and his cape now silver-coloured, with silver gloves covering his hands, and a sleek silver helmet, with a holographic visor over his head. Suddenly, the Atmospheric Field-Generators on the others’ belts all flared to life, seconds before the Argo’s teleporter beam engulfed them, ‘porting them outside.

By the time they had ‘ported out of the Argo, the Fantastic Four had already disembarked…and were quite astounded by the fact that they didn’t need their bulky space-suits. “Amazing…” Reed murmured.

“Gotta hand it to your people, Supes: you guys came up with some handy gizmos.” Ben said.

“Mein Gott…ve are actually on Mars…” Nightcrawler murmured.

“Yeah…” Rogue agreed, looking around the barren landscape. “No offence, J’onn, but yer planet ain’t that home-lahke.”

J’onn chuckled softly. “It wasn’t always like this.” he whispered. “My world was once green and verdant, many centuries ago, until a massive asteroid impacted it, altering its orbit, pushing it further from the sun. We had to adapt to survive our planet’s harsher climate…but we managed.” He smiled gently. “And we don’t call ourselves Martians; Mars was merely the name your astronomers gave our planet.”

“Well, what did you call yourselves?” Sue asked.

J’onn’s expression saddened. “We called ourselves mar’u’ni.”

Siryn blinked. “Meaning..?”

“People.” J’onn answered. “And our world was simply mar’u’noth: home.”

Ben smiled. “Short an’ sweet.” he said. “Sounds like you guys were a smart bunch.”

“So…what ‘appened?” Gambit asked.

J’onn’s expression turned grim. “You…you are familiar with a space-faring species known as the Chitari?”

“Cap ran into a few of them back in 1945, before he was frozen in the Atlantic.” Superman answered. “My people had sporadic encounters with them in the past, as well.”

J’onn nodded. “The Chitari are a nomadic race; they occupy one planet, drain its resources, and then move off and repeat the cycle.” he said. “What Captain America – what all of you – did not know is that the handful of Chitari he encountered in 1945 was merely the first wave of what was to be a much larger campaign, or that the entire Chitari fleet had arrived in this system ten years previous.”

His expression became terribly haunted. “You never knew that…because they had come for us first; the main fleet attacked our world for ten years.” he whispered. “Our technology was superior…but they outnumbered us a hundred-to-one…” J’onn closed his eyes. “We fought so very fiercely…”

No-one spoke at that revelation, leaving J’onn with only his memories, which welled back up to claim him…

XXXXXXXX

Mars, Earth date 1945

The surface of the planet known as Mars was pock-marked and scarred as the laser-cannons of the orbiting Chitari ships continued to pound away at the red planet. Their bombardment came faster, now, as their scans had revealed that the remaining inhabitants of their last underground city, Mar’u’nopolis, were developing something; something that they thought could defeat them…

Suddenly, a barrage of laser-beams lanced up from the surface of the planet, incinerating the squadron of Chitari bombers before they could start their bombing run, as eight silvery-metal flying saucers flew up from the surface of the planet. Once the saucers were clear of the planet’s atmosphere, they began to change; their outer dishes opened and expanded, shifting and rotating 90 degrees around their central spheres – the cockpits – revealing more powerful weapons, and increasing their engine output and maneuverability.

Inside the lead fighter, J’onn J’onzz, Supreme Commander of the Planetary Vanguard, glared at the targets on his ship’s HUD, his red eyes narrowed. “Alright, men,” he said through the fighter’s communicator, “you know your duty: keep these Vothanos-bedamned creatures off-guard until the defence system is up-and-running! For our planet!

With that, the eight fighters broke formation and attacked the Chitari fleet. Flying towards the nearest Chitari Cruiser, J’onn opened fire, blasting two Chitari fighters with pin-point accuracy, before he saw a third vessel closing at eight low…which was shot down by his wingman. The deep laugh of his old comrade Re’nar J’odd came in over the radio. “Still forgetting to watch your back, J’onzz?”

J’onn chuckled. “That’s what I keep you around for, Re’nar.”

“Ugh; I always get stuck with the nasty jobs…” And he punctuated that sentence by firing a salvo of plasma missiles, incinerating a full squadron of fighters, giving two more of their fighters a clear attack-run on the Cruiser; the two saucer-craft opened fire with everything they had, tearing through the Cruiser’s shields and ripping into its hull. In seconds, the Cruiser erupted in a massive explosion.

With their target dispatched, J’onn turned his fighter and flew to another section of the engagement zone, where more bombers were massing; a salvo of missiles quickly destroyed them. Spotting a fighter going after In’dor R’ekk’s ship, J’onn quickly turned and flew after it; as the fighter closed on him, In’dor frantically fired on it, missing repeatedly – he was still a rookie, fresh out of training. By all rights, J’onn shouldn’t have ordered him up here, but they’d had no choice.

They were the only Vanguard pilots left.

Locking onto the fighter, J’onn fired a missile, blasting the Chitari ship apart. “T-Thanks, sir.” In’dor stammered.

J’onn nodded. “Just keep your eyes open, boy.”

“Y-Yes, sir.” In’dor said. “There’s…there’s just too many of them…”

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, J’onn spotted a Chitari missile heading for another of his wingmen, Ry’nek V’arr, one of the Vanguard’s top guns. “Ry’nek, LOOK OUT!!”

With the deft flying of an ace, Ry’nek maneuvered his craft partially out of the way, but the missile still clipped him, damaging his engine and sending him into a slow spiral towards the planet below. “I’m hit, sir.” Ry’nek’s calm voice came in over the radio.

J’onn grimaced. “Restart your ship, Ry’nek; we’ll cover you…”

“No good, Commander; auto-mixer’s gone. I’m dead in space.” Ry’nek said. “I’ve got a good bead on that Cruiser; I’ll soften him up before I hit atmosphere.”

His tone turned soft. “Get ‘em for me, guys.” With that, his ship fired a full salvo of lasers and missiles, utterly destroying the nearest Cruiser’s shields, before it hit the planet’s atmosphere, glowing red from re-entry.

He was gone.

His jaw clenching, J’onn fired a salvo of missiles at the Cruiser, destroying it. “J’onzz to all fighters: form on my wing! We’ll sweep these bastards and hit ‘em hard! Our people almost have the system working; we’ve GOT to give them more time!!”

At that, the remaining saucer-fighters formed up, as they flew through the assembled Chitari fleet, blasting every fighter and every Cruiser that came in their path…but for every ship they felled, two more came at them.

By then, a Cruiser had moved into a closer orbit over the planet…where it fired a salvo of countless missiles, with rotating heads, capable of boring through bedrock and reaching their underground city…and equipped with nuclear warheads..!

J’onn’s eyes went wide. “SHOOT THOSE MISSILES DOWN!!” he shouted; instantly, all seven fighters opened fire on the missiles, blasting them out of the sky, until only three remained…

Suddenly, a squadron of fighters swarmed them, as the Cruiser opened fire with its lasers, incinerating two of their ships. The remaining five fighters were forced to scatter. J’onn blasted one fighter after another, trying to get a fix on the missiles, now glowing red from re-entry…

…until he saw In’dor’s ship dive after them.

Keeping his ship under control, In’dor shot down one missile…then another. He tried to fire on the third, but his ship was shaking; it was coming apart..!

“In’dor! Close your dish!” J’onn shouted. “The attack-wing can’t handle atmosphere! You’ll burn up!!”

“I-I can get it, sir!”

J’onn grimaced. “Dammit, In’dor, that’s an ORDER!!”

“There’s no time!” In’dor cried, continuing to fire on the missile. “I can get it!”

His last words echoed with sheer desperation. “FOR OUR PLANET!!”

And with that, he blasted off the rotating head, before his fighter’s dish collapsed, his fighter dropping like a stone, incinerating before he was half-way through.

With its rotating cap gone, the missile couldn’t bore through…but it was going to hit the bedrock above their city, and undoubtedly cause a cave in, and there wasn’t time to shoot it down..!

XXXXXXXX

“J’onn?”

Superman’s voice shook J’onn out of his memories. “Are you okay?”

J’onn managed to find his voice. “I…I will be.”

The others were silent for a moment. “Something tells me,” Reed said softly, “that if it wasn’t for your people, the Chitari would have taken over Earth, sixty years ago.”

“Yeah.” Johnny said. “We owe you, Big Green.”

J’onn grimaced momentarily, before recomposing himself. “I sensed Xi’aa’s signal from this direction.” he said, gesturing towards the east side of the mesa.

Superman nodded. “I’ll direct the drones to focus their scans on that area.” he agreed. “We’d better get moving.” With that, the entire team headed towards the eastern part of the mesa; as they walked, J’onn was torn between hope and dread.

Hope that his wife was still alive…

…and dread that he would have to see the remnants of the people he’d failed to protect.

XXXXXXXX

Earth, New York City

The black van’s tires screeched as the van sped through the New York streets, with several police cars hot on their heels…but as far as the three bank-robbers were concerned, New York’s finest were the least of their worries.

As the van rounded a corner, the crook in the back opened up a round of machine-gun fire on the pursuing police, puncturing the tires of one car and causing it to swerve, blocking off the others. The thug laughed triumphantly…but his rejoicing was premature.

Diving out of the sky, Wonder Woman closed on the van in seconds, drawing her lasso and throwing it with expert accuracy, snagging the criminal by his arms and yanking him out of the vehicle. As she touched down, Wonder Woman momentarily glared at the thug she was grasping by the collar, before switching on her communicator. “Warrior Princess to Nightingale; they are headed east. I’ve detained one, but there are two more, and they are undoubtedly armed.”

“Understood, Wonder Woman; we’ve got it covered.”

By then, the van was heading towards the east-side seaport, where they could, with any luck, hop on a ferry and lay low…but those plans quickly went down the toilet, as a golden, hard-light barrier formed around their front bumper, while something else grabbed hold of their back bumper, forcing them to a stop, as Power Girl dropped out of the sky, touching down in front of the van, her eyes narrowed. Before the two thugs could even react, Power Girl grabbed them with light-fields and yanked them out of the van. As one crook started to draw an automatic, Power Girl darted at him at super-speed, sending him flying with a punch, before intercepting him in mid-air, grabbing him and tossing him into the other.

As the crooks struggled to get up, Power Girl smiled slyly. “Which of us would you prefer to deal with?” she asked sweetly. She gestured to herself. “Me?” She then pointed to the back of their van, where Krypto was walking towards them, holding their rear bumper in his teeth. Krypto then spat out the bumper, before baring his teeth and growling.

“Or him?”

The crooks made the smart choice: they surrendered.

By the time the police arrived and took the three thugs into custody, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, and Krypto had withdrawn to a nearby rooftop. As the police led the crooks away, Wonder Woman glanced to Power Girl. “Good work,” she said, before her smile turned gently chiding, “but weren’t you a bit harsher than necessary?”

Power Girl frowned. “No more than you are, at times.”

Wonder Woman’s smile became a bit strained. “Yes, I know when force is necessary,” she replied, “and when it isn’t.” Her tone turned lighter. “On Themyscira, my sisters always refused to spar with me when I was that fierce; they knew enough to let me cool down.”

As she’d expected, the younger girl took the opening. “So I had to blow off a little steam. Big deal.”

Diana’s smile grew. “As I thought.” she said. “This wouldn’t happen to be related to a certain space-mission, would it?”

Power Girl’s frown grew. “I know why Kal needed me to stay here.” she muttered. “I know that I can trust him, but…”

“…but not her.” Wonder Woman finished.

Power Girl’s eyes narrowed. “Would you?” she exclaimed.

“Given your past experiences with her?” Wonder Woman asked. “Perhaps not.”

Power Girl shook her head. “It wasn’t just me that her…activities were aimed at.” she said. “They were aimed at all of us…but…but it feels like I’m the only one still waving the red flag, at times!”

Diana’s heart honestly went out to young Alison. “Siryn’s treachery may have been directed at the X-Men, child, but with your and Kal’s relationship, you’re bound to feel it more sharply.”

Power Girl looked stricken. “And the worst part is, this won’t be the last time this is going to happen; Siryn’s the best out of the New Mutants – she’ll make X-Man, any time, now – so she’ll be going on missions with us, more often…”

“…forcing you to trust her more.” Wonder Woman finished.

Power Girl nodded. “How am I supposed to do that?” she cried. “How am I supposed to put my life in the hands of the woman who tried to break my tausha and I apart on a regular basis?”

Wonder Woman sighed. “A true dilemma.” she admitted. “I have no solution other than to discuss your problem with Siryn; ultimately, it will affect her as much as you, should she be promoted.”

Power Girl groaned. “Great.” she muttered. “That’ll be fun.”

Wonder Woman chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision, child.” she assured her. At that, Krypto barked in agreement.

Power Girl lightly smiled. “Thanks.” she replied. “I guess we’d better get moving.” Wonder Woman nodded, before she took to the air, followed by Power Girl and Krypto.

She’d meant what she’d said; she was confident that, in time, Alison would do what was right…for Diana knew that, within the younger girl’s chest dwelled the heart of an Amazon.

She only needed to truly awaken that well of righteous flame…but when she did…

…Hera help any villain foolish enough to challenge her.

XXXXXXXX

Mars

The sun was still high in the red sky of Mars as the small group reached the rust-coloured mesa. “Okay,” Johnny piped up, “now what?”

Walking to the rock wall, J’onn phased his hand into the rock…triggering the switch hidden deep within; automatically, the rock wall slid aside, revealing a dusty corridor of silver metal. “This leads to our last underground city.” he explained. “The last of my people took refuge here, in the last days of the Chitari attack.” With that, he headed into the corridor, followed by the others.

The corridor grew steadily darker as they walked through it, to the point where only Green Lantern’s energy-field illuminated the corridor. After a few minutes, they were forced to stop, as the corridor had been blocked by rubble. His eyes narrowing as he used his X-Ray vision, Superman said, “The corridor looks pretty stable; we should be able to blast some of this out of the way.”

Gambit chuckled. “Leave it t’ Gambit, mes amis.” he said, before walking to the rubble, and placing his hand on it, charging it with kinetic energy, causing it to glow.

As Gambit quickly retreated, Green Lantern quickly raised an energy-barrier, which Sue reinforced with a force-field…seconds before the rubble erupted in an impressive explosion, blasting away most of the rubble. “Green Lantern, Siryn, let’s take care of the rest.” Superman said.

Siryn smiled. “Gladly.” she cooed.

“Let’s help ‘em out, Matchstick.” Ben said. With that, Superman fired precision eye-rays, cutting away the rubble from the sides of the walls, his rays supplemented by Green Lantern’s ring-beams, Siryn’s mystic force-pulses, and Johnny’s fire-blasts; once the rubble was loose enough, Superman and Ben simply pushed it out of the way, before the entire team continued on its way.

Before too long, they came to a steel door. “This elevator will take us down to the city.” J’onn explained.

Reed looked thoughtful. “It appears to be out of power.”

Android nodded. “Allow me.” With that, he morphed his arm into a metallic tendril, before inserting it into the elevator’s control panel, partially merging with it, and then charging it with his own generator.

Slowly, the control panel flared to life. “Dr. Richards,” Android said, removing his arm from the panel, “I believe that this panel requires some reconfiguring, as its circuitry was damaged, undoubtedly during the battle J’onn mentioned.”

“Understood.” Reed said, as he took out a micro-welder from the kit on his belt, before kneeling down to the control panel, and getting to work. “It looks like a few circuits were burned-out by overloads.” Reed said to himself. “I’ll just need to hook up a standard bypass…reroute power here…and…there!”

At that, the elevator door promptly slid open, allowing them to step inside. Once they were all inside, the doors slid shut, as the elevator headed down, deep into the crust of the planet. They travelled this way for several minutes, before the elevator stopped, allowing them to step outside.

The second they had, everyone froze.

The elevator had deposited them at the end of an incredibly vast cavern, illuminated by a glowing blue-green mass growing on the roof of the cavern…and within the cavern was an enormous, red-and-silver metal city, which now lay in utter ruins, but had clearly been breathtaking in its day.

“My God…” Reed whispered.

“Wow…” Rogue murmured.

“Amazing…” Mystique gasped.

J’onn could only stare mournfully at the ruined city, a pale shadow of its former glory, an empty shell…just like his beloved homeworld…

XXXXXXXX

As the missile lanced down towards the surface of the planet, J’onn quickly hailed the city. “Attention base: this is your Supreme Commander! Evacuate the city! Repeat: evacuate the city! We have incoming..!”

But it was too late.

The nuclear explosion rippled through the atmosphere of the planet, tearing the surrounding area to shreds…and tearing his heart in pieces…he’d failed…

Shaking himself out of depression, J’onn refocused on the task at hand; the missile had hit the mesa itself – there was still a chance that the city and its few remaining inhabitants had survived…but if they didn’t stop the Chitari, it would all be for nothing. “J’onzz to Orbital Defence Command: is the system operational?”

Only static answered him at first…and then, “Affirmative…sir…ready…you are!”

J’onn nodded grimly. “Lock onto nearest Chitari battlegroup: fire when ready!” he ordered. “J’onzz to remaining fighters: break and attack!”

With that command, the four saucer-craft broke formation and attacked the Chitari fleet. Two of J’onn’s wingmen incinerated four squadrons of Chitari bombers, and crippled two Cruisers before they were shot down, leaving only J’onn and Re’nar. “It looks like we won’t be getting out of this one, old friend.” J’onn muttered grimly.

“I wouldn’t say that, J’onzz.” Re’nar exclaimed. “Look!”

Looking down at the surface of the planet, J’onn’s eyes widened as he saw numerous, massive laser-beams lance up from the surface, utterly annihilating numerous Chitari Cruisers, and incinerating any Chitari fighter that flew into their path.

In a matter of seconds, the Chitari fleet lost over three-quarters of their forces.

After about a minute of blasting, the remnants of the fleet began to pull back, heading for open space. “They’re…they’re breaking off!” Re’nar exclaimed. “Those bulbous bastards are giving up! We WON!! We..!”

But his exhultation was cut off as a Chitari laser, in an act of spite, blasted his fighter, destroying the upper half of his ship’s dish-wing. “I’m hit!!” Re’nar cried. “Weapons are off-line! Fusion generator’s going critical! She’s going to breach!”

“Eject!!” J’onn cried out. “Re’nar, EJECT!!”

“No time!” Re’nar shouted. His tone turned fierce. “If I’m going down…I’m taking these bastards WITH me!!” With that, he turned his craft into a death-dive towards the nearest Chitari Cruiser, colliding with it just as his ship’s power-generator went critical.

The resulting explosion lit up space for light-years around.

When the rubble cleared, only J’onn’s fighter was left in orbit, as the remnants of the Chitari fleet moved on. Suddenly, he intercepted a message from the retreating Chitari…

…a message intended for the infiltration units on the neighbouring planet, the third from the sun: Earth. The ships in orbit were being ordered to land, and begin infiltration until reinforcements could arrive.

J’onn was about to hail Orbital Defence Command…when he saw the massive energy spike from their base, as the system overloaded, and blew out, destroying the base. Their engineers had suspected that excessive use could overload the weapon, and had requested more time to properly test it…but he’d ordered them to hurry.

“J’onzz to Command.” J’onn whispered…and got no response. “Commander J’onzz to Defence Command; respond!”

No answer.

“This is J’onn J’onzz calling Mar’u’nopolis! Please respond!”

No reply.

His tone turned desperate. “Can anyone hear me?! Please, SOMEONE respond!!”

Nothing.

Falling back against his seat, J’onn felt true panic grip him. He’d failed; he’d failed them all: his men, his world, his beloved wife, Xi’aa, and their daughter, K’imm.

They were all gone.

He was, almost certainly, the last of his people.

J’onn did not know how long he sat there before he made his decision. Bringing up his ship’s computer, he calculated how long it would take his ship to reach Earth at Maximum Burn.

An hour. It would take an hour at non-stop Maximum Burn to reach Earth…but he would be going too fast to pull out; he’d all-too-likely burn up in re-entry.

If his fusion generator didn’t breach, first.

“Computer,” J’onn whispered, “access global communications: planet-wide broadcast.” In seconds, he was live. “My name is J’onn J’onzz. I was…am…the Supreme Commander of the Planetary Vanguard. The Chitari have left us. We have won…though it matters little, now. I do not know if any of you can hear me; I do not even know if there are any others left alive. It is my intention to fly at Maximum Burn to the planet Earth, where the Chitari are attempting to infiltrate, with the intent to eventually subjugate its people…and that is something I cannot allow...though it is very likely that I go to my doom.”

“It is my deepest hope that there are survivors upon our world, who may hear this message,” J’onn whispered, his red eyes watering, “but if I truly am the last of our people…and if I must die…and if our people must die with me…then let it be in defence of freedom.” He suppressed a gasp. “My name was J’onn J’onzz. For my world…for my people…and for my Xi’aa, I lived.” His expression turned determined. “For their memory, I die.”

And with that, he ended the transmission, before plotting his new course, and punching in a Maximum Burn; his ship blazed away, towards Earth, living his beloved red planet behind.

Forever.

The hour-long trip passed all too quickly for J’onn’s liking, but it gave his tactically-trained mind sufficient time to develop a plan. The ships stationed at Earth were likely unarmed troop transports, with only a minimum complement of fighters: the standard Chitari infiltration force. They would likely come in low over Earth’s atmosphere…where a hard enough strike would push them in too far, to burn up.

At his current speed, he would only get one shot at getting them before he shot into Earth’s atmosphere and burned up…but that was fine with him.

He likely had nothing to live for, anymore.

Suddenly, the planet popped up on his radar, before the beautiful blue world appeared in front of him. Minutes later, the Chitari troop transports, with no fighter-support, appeared, flying low, just as he’d predicted.

As he closed on them, he could hear their guttural chatter heighten in frightened pitch as they picked him up on their scanners; his eyes narrowed in fury, J’onn opened a broad-wave channel – he wanted them to hear him.

“RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRR!!”

His roar of despairing rage nearly shook the vacuum of space, terrifying the Chitari, as J’onn unloaded a full salvo of missiles, blasting each and every Chitari ship out of the sky as he shot into the blue planet’s atmosphere. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the three Chitari support-fighters fly out of atmosphere, and fired a few laser-volleys at them, damaging them enough so that they weren’t likely to get far, before their lasers hit his ship, crippling his weapons, before flying off.

As his craft spun out of control, some long-forgotten survival-reflex kicked in, and J’onn closed his ship’s attack-wing, turning the craft back into a saucer, and slowing his descent. As his ship shot by, J’onn looked out the window, enjoying his last few moments.

Blue.

This world had liquid water…oceans of it…

Green.

There were forests on this world…forests almost without end…

The people here…they had been fighting a war, as well; he could feel them, now, without the chattering of Chitari thoughts to dull his telepathy.

The war was over, now, and they were ready to rebuild.

These people – humans – were a young race, younger than his, but they had potential. They might even be attempting space-flight, within a century from now.

‘People of Earth,’ J’onn thought, ‘if you should wander to my world, the world you call Mars…know that we walked there, before you…’

As his ship careened towards one of the larger land-masses on the planet, J’onn braced himself. The ground grew closer, and closer – he was going to land in a desert, eerily similar to his world…and then, he hit.

The crash itself happened in a blur, leaving J’onn in disoriented agony. Already, he could feel the ship begin to automatically put him in stasis, to link to his subconscious to send a psychic message to his planet, telling them he was here…but that didn’t matter, now.

He was the last of his people…

XXXXXXXX

“J’onn? Did you hear me?”

J’onn shook himself out of his memories again, turning towards Superman. “What?”

“I said the Sensor Drones have got a fix on a life-sign.” Superman reported. “It’s a few miles east of here…”

That was all that J’onn needed; he knew where she was.

At once, J’onn flew off, as fast as he could go, morphing back into his natural form as he did, becoming a seven-foot-tall, green humanoid, with no toes, four fingered-hands, and a sleek fin extending back from his skull, his uniform vanishing. In minutes, he’d arrived at the ruined building, its fairly large frame damaged beyond repair, its windows shattered.

It was his old home. Their home.

Feeling his breath catching in his throat, J’onn touched down, before racing inside. “Xi’aa!!” he cried out. “Xi’aa!!”

“J’onn…”

J’onn felt his heart stop as he slowly turned around…and saw her, leaning against the battered wall for support, her ruby eyes shining with happiness. “I…I thought I’d lost you…” she whispered, in their native language, as she took a step towards him…and started to lose her balance.

With swiftness that rivaled Superman’s, J’onn darted towards his wife, catching her, and holding her close, his tears freely flowing as they embraced. “I called to you…” he whispered back, “…for fifty years, I tried to reach you…I thought everyone was gone…”

“I tried to reach you, as well…” Xi’aa murmured, nuzzling closer to him, “…but I was too weak; my stasis pod didn’t have enough power to properly sustain both myself and K’imm, so I had to limit the time I spent in it…”

J’onn’s eyes went wide; did he dare hope..? “Is…Is she..?”

Xi’aa smiled radiantly. “She’s alive, J’onn; our daughter is alive.”

“But…But how..?”

Xi’aa smiled wistfully. “We got your warning.” she murmured. “I managed to get K’imm into stasis before the missile hit, but I got caught in the blast before I could enter my own pod.”

It was then that J’onn got a good look at Xi’aa, and saw the improperly-healed radiation burns marring her creamy emerald skin.

Severe burns. “Xi’aa…”

“I’m fine,” Xi’aa answered shakily, “but we need to get K’imm out of stasis and get out of here, before..!”

“J’onn?”

Turning, J’onn saw Superman step into the ruins of his home, followed by the others. The sight of his comrades caused Xi’aa to gasp. “J-J’onn?!” she cried. “W-What’s going on?!”

Gently, J’onn took hold of his wife’s mind, soothing her anxious thoughts while gently pouring his knowledge of English into her mind, sharing his memories of Earth with her. Almost instantly, her anxiety gave way to understanding.

Smiling, J’onn turned to his friends. “Everyone,” he said, “it is my pleasure to introduce my wife, Xi’aa.”

Smiling nervously, Xi’aa lightly bowed to them. “I am…very pleased to meet all of you.” she added. “It is a pleasure to meet the people of Earth,” she then glanced to Superman, “and one not from Earth.”

Superman chuckled. “I just wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

“J’onn,” Reed said, “with your permission, we’d like to take a look around…”

“There isn’t time!” Xi’aa cried. “They could get here, any moment!”

J’onn blinked. “Who?”

Xi’aa looked stricken. “Beloved…you know who.”

J’onn’s eyes went wide. “They…came back?”

Xi’aa nodded. “The Chitari are here, J’onn; our early-warning beacons on the gas-giant’s moons picked them up. They’re on their way here…”

Suddenly, Superman’s belt-buckle began to beep. “The Argo’s Sensor Drones just picked up twelve more life-signs entering the city from the north; they’ll be on us in three minutes.” he reported…before his tone turned grave. “They’re consistent with Chitari bio-signatures.”

J’onn’s eyes narrowed in grim anger. “An infantry squad.” he snarled. He turned to Xi’aa. “Stay here, and get K’imm out of stasis; leave the Chitari to us.”

Xi’aa looked stricken. “Please…be careful.”

“I will.” J’onn promised. He then turned to his comrades, his expression growing determined. “Let’s move.”

Johnny grinned. “Fine by me!” he said. “Flame on!” With that, he ignited himself, surrounding himself with a corona of blazing red flames, as he, Superman, J’onn, and Green Lantern flew north, to intercept the Chitari, while the others followed from the ground.

In less than a minute, they had intercepted the twelve intruders: J’onn’s eyes narrowed as he saw the bulbous, tentacled forms of the Chitari, clad in the light armour of the Chitari infantry, brandishing plasma-rifles. As the Chitari saw them, they paused, momentarily confused, unsure what to make of the other three flyers…

…but the sight of J’onn sent them into screeching panic.

At once, the entire Chitari brigade opened fire on them, causing the four flyers to scatter, evading their shots, while the Chitari spread out, taking cover behind the rubble of the city. Touching down, the Martian Manhunter telekinetically ripped away the rubble that two Chitari were hiding behind, giving Superman and the Human Torch an opening to blast away the Chitari’s rifles with eye-rays and flame-blasts, before the Manhunter sent them flying with a telekinetic pulse.

As two more Chitari opened fire on them, Green Lantern quickly raised an energy-barrier, seconds before the Thing, having caught up with them, barreled into the two Chitari, sending them flying with a haymaker. Another two started peppering him him laser-blasts, denting his rocky skin and driving him back…until their shots were blocked by a force-field from the Invisible Woman, before Mr. Fantastic’s arms stretched out, grabbed them, and tossed them away.

Three Chitari were starting to get a bead on the Manhunter…until several glowing playing cards embedded in the rubble above them and detonated, sending them sprawling. As the Chitari soldiers got up, Nightcrawler banfed in and sent one sprawling with a kick, knocking his weapon into Android’s hand, allowing him to instantly scan it, and then promptly morphing his arms into perfect duplicates of the Chitari weapons, before opening fire, shooting the rifles out of the grip of the other two Chitari.

Hissing in fury, the two Chitari started to reach for their belts laden with plasma grenades…only to find their belts missing. “Lookin’ f’r dese?” Gambit asked from behind them, holding up their belts…seconds before a roar filled the air, as Mystique, having morphed into a bear, charged at them, sending them sprawling with powerful swipes from her claws, before resuming her natural form. One Chitari was knocked out instantly, but the second remained conscious…until Rogue tapped her palm to its head, draining it.

Shrieking in anger, the last three Chitari opened fire at Superman, their anger growing as their shots impacted against him harmlessly. “Siryn!” Superman called out. “Teleport me behind them!” Siryn nodded, and conjured a cloud of green haze around Superman, depositing him directly behind the Chitari, where he inhaled deeply, and unleashed a burst of gale-breath at them, sending them flying towards Siryn, who unleashed a sonic scream, blasting them into the air…seconds before Superman darted into the air, flying from one Chitari to the next at super-speed, sending each one sprawling with a punch, before touching down soundlessly.

With the Chitari squad dispatched, the Martian Manhunter stormed over to a Chitari infantryman, struggling to regain consciousness, and telekinetically picked him up. ‘Was it not enough for you to destroy our entire civilization?!’ he mentally roared. ‘TELL ME WHY YOU ARE HERE!!’

Behind him, another Chitari sat up dazedly, aiming his plasma-rifle at the Manhunter…

“J’ONN, LOOK OUT!!”

Mystique’s warning came just in time; dropping the Chitari, J’onn phased himself, allowing the plasma-burst to pass through him harmlessly, before going solid again, and knocking his attacker out with a TK-pulse. Turning to Mystique, J’onn smiled. “Thank you.”

Mystique smiled wistfully. “It was the least I could do.” she whispered. For a moment, they simply held each other’s gaze…as J’onn felt his burning desire to rescue his wife and daughter yield, momentarily, to what he might have given up…

“So, any idea what these guys were after?” Ben asked aloud.

“Ah know.” Rogue said. Her expression turned nauseated…and then horrified. “As Ah drained that Chitari, Ah got a look at his thoughts: they’re goin’ after Earth, and they’re gonna use yer defence-network to help ‘em do it!”

“Merde.” Gambit muttered.

“I’ll say.” Johnny agreed, deactivating his powers as his Atmospheric Generator started to beep.

“So, vat do ve do?” Nightcrawler asked. “Ve’ve got zhe Argo, but is zat enough to stop an entire fleet?”

Superman grimaced behind his helmet’s visor. “It’ll be hairy…”

“There is another way.” J’onn said softly. “We need to get back to Xi’aa; I’ll explain on the way.” At that, the others nodded, before they all headed back to J’onn’s former home.

As J’onn and the others reached the ruined building, J’onn could sense a second mind regaining consciousness deeper within his old home; hurrying inside, he was just in time to see Xi’aa open the second, intact cryo-stasis chamber, revealing a second female Martian, in her adolescent years, and a fair bit shorter than her mother, and considerably shorter than him.

Letting out a soft groan, K’imm slowly opened her eyes. “M-Mamya?” she murmured to her mother, sitting up. She then rubbed her eyes…and saw J’onn. “DATYA!!” she cried, practically flying towards him, catching him in a fierce hug.

J’onn felt his joyful tears start to flow again. ‘K’imm…thank Vothanos you’re okay..’

K’imm’s mental tone turned somewhat snappish. ‘You scared me and Mom to death, Dad! Don’t EVER do that, again!!’

J’onn laughed. ‘I’ll try not to.’ he replied. By the time he’d given K’imm his knowledge of the English language, the others had caught up with him. “Everyone,” J’onn said, “this is my daughter, K’imm; K’imm, these are my friends from Earth.”

K’imm looked momentarily perplexed as she gazed at them…before smiling sheepishly. “Uh…hi?”

Rogue smiled. “Hi, yourself.”

Turning to Xi’aa, J’onn said, “Xi’aa, we’re going to need all the data you have on the defence network, specifically its schematics.”

“Why?”

“The Chitari are trying to reactivate it.” Superman said. “We were hoping to use it to drive them off.”

Johnny blinked. “Uh…are we missing something, here?”

“Xi’aa was one of the engineers who designed and assembled the network,” J’onn explained, “though, thankfully, she wasn’t on-site during the test-firing: the main control center blew up in an overload.”

“If the Chitari are trying to reactivate the system, then the main facility should still be mostly intact.” Xi’aa reasoned. “I should be able to get the system back up and running…with a little help.”

J’onn’s eyes narrowed. “Then you can explain to Reed how to repair it, Xi’aa; you’re in no condition to..!”

“I’m the only one who has enough familiarity with the systems.” Xi’aa countered. “You need me, J’onn, and you know it.”

J’onn grimaced…and then nodded. “Very well; you can come with us, but be careful!”

“I’m coming, too!” K’imm declared.

Both J’onn and Xi’aa spoke as one: “Absolutely not!!”

K’imm frowned. “I aced my first two years in the Academy, Dad; I think I can handle a few Chitari..!”

“You’re a Cadet, K’imm…at best.” J’onn countered.

Xi’aa nodded. “You’re nowhere near ready to face Chitari regulars!”

“We don’t have a choice!” K’imm shouted. “You don’t exactly have a lot of options, here!”

“I hate to say it, but she’s got a point.” Reed interjected. “If the Chitari have fortified a position at the control center, we’ll have a tough fight on our hands…”

J’onn grimaced at that…before he reluctantly nodded. “I know of a tunnel that leads directly to the control center. It is unlikely that the Chitari know of it; we can use it to infiltrate the facility.”

“Dat takes care o’ dat much,” Gambit said, “but ‘ow y’ gon’ take care o’ de Chitari on de way ‘ere? Dey ain’ gon’ jus’ sit ‘round an’ wait f’r us.”

“We’ve got that much covered.” Superman said. “Green Lantern and I will keep them busy long enough for you guys to get that system up-and-running.”

Green Lantern nodded. “The Lantern Corps have run into the Chitari, every now and then; I think the two of us can keep them occupied.”

“Still, if we can’t get that system going, we’ll need a backup plan.” Superman said. “Ben, think you’re up for it?”

Ben blinked. “Hey, I’m all for a little sub-orbital clobbering, Supes, but the Fantasticar wasn’t built for dogfightin’…”

“No need to worry about that, big guy.” Superman said. “Green Lantern, the Argo and I will handle the ship-to-ship combat; we need you for a more ‘hands-on’ approach.”

“Huh??”

“We’ll explain on the way.” Green Lantern said. “Hope you’ve got a space-suit handy.”

“Good luck.” Reed said.

“You, too.” Superman answered. With that, he, Green Lantern, and the Thing turned and headed back towards the elevator they had taken into the city, while the others headed towards the secret tunnel, to sneak into the control facility.

XXXXXXXX

“WHAT did you say?!”

Aboard the Chitari flagship, the Lieutenant had just delivered its report to the Admiral…and wished it hadn’t. “The…the infantry squad just reported in, Excellency; they…they were routed.”

The Admiral was seething. “By WHAT?!”

The Lieutenant gulped. “By…by a Martian, Excellency.” it answered. “And several humans. And a Green Lantern…and…”

“And?!” the Admiral snapped expectantly.

“And…if they’re correct, Excellency…a Kryptonian.”

The Admiral’s eyes bulged. “WHAT?!”

“I…I know how it sounds, Excellency…”

The Admiral silenced the Lieutenant with a gesture, followed by a pheromone burst; so this was why their contact had so graciously mentioned that this galaxy was ripe for the picking. After the last debacle, the Chitari Federation had decided to never come here, again…until he had told them there was nothing in their way.

‘Nothing in their way,’ indeed.

“How long until we are in firing range?!” the Admiral thundered; it wasn’t going to take any chances – if it meant destroying the Kryptonian, it would raze the planet to the ground..!

“Several minutes, now, Excellency!” the Lieutenant reported. “We should be able to get a lock on..!”

“Excellency, we have a sensor-contact!” another Lieutenant cried. “One ship, closing fast!”

The Admiral’s eyes narrowed. “Martian?”

“No, Excellency! Kryptonian!”

The Admiral hissed in fury as the single crystalline ship appeared on their sensors; a fly in comparison to their Cruisers. “Shoot it down!!” the Admiral screeched. At once, the entire bridge crew scrambled to carry out its orders…

…and blast their hated enemy out of the sky.

XXXXXXXX

“So, you’re sure this is gonna work?”

Sitting in the cockpit of the Argo, Superman, Green Lantern, and Ben, now clad in a bulky blue space-suit, better able to take a pounding than the simple Generator, had been reviewing their plan as the Speeder flew out of Mars’ atmosphere, after retrieving the Sensor Drones, heading towards the approaching Chitari fleet.

“It’ll work, Ben.” Superman assured him. “I’ll set the Argo on autopilot while Green Lantern and I draw the Chitari’s fire. The Argo will monitor the fleet until it identifies their central communication nexus; as soon as it does, the Argo will ‘port you into space, where Green Lantern will sling-shoot you into the target-ship, so that you can get to the comms nexus and insert a virus.”

Green Lantern nodded. “That nexus synchronizes their entire fleet; if it’s fried, they won’t know up from down.”

Looking at the palm-sized crystalline unit he now held, Ben frowned. “Can’t you just send the virus from here?”

“Not and have the same effect.” Superman answered. “The nexus is partially isolated from its carrier-ship; I send the virus directly, and it’ll crash every system on the ship…but not before the Chitari catch on and switch to a backup nexus. If we send it this way, the virus will get the main nexus and the backups, since they’re linked.”

Ben blinked. “But you’re sure it’ll work?”

Superman smiled sheepishly. “Reasonably sure.”

“Most of our plans are 50 percent tactical intelligence, and 50 percent flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.” Green Lantern quipped. “Basically the same kind of mission-plan as the Marines.”

Ben blinked…and then smiled a toothy grin. “Good enough for me!”

Just then, the Argo’s HUD began to beep, indicating numerous Chitari fighters and Cruisers. “Looks like our friends are here.” Green Lantern said.

Superman nodded. “Argo: deploy armour!” he instructed. “Arm Polaron Disruptor, Positron Cannons, and Trans-Phase Laser-Cannons, and enable Anti-Gravitonic defence-field! Put Drone-Launchers and Graviton-Torpedo tubes on standby, and initiate autopilot: Attack Pattern Ver’Noron!” At that, the Argo’s controls retracted into the pilot’s console, as the Speeder, headed directly into the Chitari fleet. “Well, I guess it’s time to get to work.” Superman said.

Green Lantern nodded. “This kind of work never gets boring.” he said. With that, the Argo’s teleporter beam ‘ported them into space, where they flew towards the fleet, as the Argo’s shields began to solidify to an almost metallic state, before condensing around the ship, coating it in an energized armour-plating, turning its hull a gleaming silver colour, and giving it a sleeker stern, a more tapered bow, and forward-curving spikes on its engine-pods. Fully armoured, the Argo followed its master and his comrade into the battlefield.

The instant the Chitari fighters picked them up on their scanners, they opened fire, filling space with laser-blasts. Darting around the salvos of beam-fire, Superman unleashed a 20 percent-powered eye-ray, impacting on one fighter’s shields…and then buckling it, piercing the fighter’s wing, disabling it. He then suppressed a shout as a laser-blast took him square in the back, sending him flying…before he quickly recovered, turning to face a second fighter, which had just launched a missile at him. Superman held his ground, and caught the missile just as it closed on him, turning it around and throwing it back; the missile impacted against the fighter’s shields, sending the fighter careening away. “Argo: arm two Graviton Torpedoes: 20 percent charge! Lock onto main Chitari ships! Fire when ready!”

At once, the Argo soared further into the fray, its armour effortlessly shrugging off the fighters’ shots, as its weapon-pods began to charge with dark purple-black energy, before firing two spheres of dark violet energy: Graviton Torpedoes, composed of ultra-dense, ultra-heavy particles, designed to temporarily duplicate the gravity-well of a black-hole before dispersing. On a lighter setting, their gravity-wells could severely inhibit an attacking ship’s motion…and on a higher setting, the resultant gravity-well could crush the target-ship like a tin can.

Flying deep into the Chitari fleet, the Torpedoes detonated, creating twin “sinkholes” in the fabric of space…causing over half the fleet to fall into them, slowing the larger ships down considerably, while the fighters scrambled to get clear of the gravity-wells. As two Chitari fighters came at him, Green Lantern repelled their fire with an energy-wall, before snagging them with a ring-field as they flew past, before throwing them towards the nearest gravity-well, where they promptly got stuck.

Flying further into the Chitari fleet, Superman kept his nano-suit’s scanners running, continually searching for the comms nexus, darting out of the way of a fighter’s lasers as it closed on him. As the fighter drew closer, Superman breached its shields with another eye-ray, before coating its main view-screen with a burst of frost-breath, causing it to careen out of control. Before he could get his bearings, Superman saw a full squadron of fighters closing on him…and then, the Argo flew past him, firing a few shots from its Disruptor; the three-pronged electrostatic bursts spun through space, before striking their targets, their charges utterly devastating the fighters’ systems, even through their shields, rendering the fighters utterly inert.

Suddenly, Superman picked up a signal on his nano-suit’s scanners. “Lantern! We’ve got a signal!”

“On it!” Green Lantern replied over his communicator, before following Superman further into the fleet. As numerous Chitari Cruisers opened fire at them, both Superman and Green Lantern were forced to take evasive action, while the Argo returned fire with its Positron Cannons, sending pulses of pink energy lancing towards the more distant Cruisers, disrupting their shields in a matter-antimatter reaction, while firing its neon-green Trans-Phase Lasers at the closer Cruisers; the high-energy beams, out of phase with normal space, passed right through the Cruisers’ shields, penetrating deep into their hulls…and coming back in phase, just in time to precisely destroy their shield-generators. With their shields gone, Green Lantern took out their weapons with precision ring-beams, rendering them powerless.

In minutes, they had closed on the Cruiser broadcasting the signal they had picked up. “Okay, Ben! Get ready!” Superman instructed.

“Ready when you are, Supes!”

As they closed on the Cruiser, Superman instructed, “Argo: arm Swarm-Drones, 5 percent attack-rate! Target dorsal plating five meters ahead of target-signal! Fire!”

At once, the two Swarm-Class Attack Drones lanced from the Argo’s weapon-pods, searing towards the Cruiser, their force-field-coated warheads piercing right through the Cruiser’s shields, before they expanded into claws, digging into the Cruiser’s hull, and unleashing their nano-bot swarms, which began to eat away at the ship’s hull-plating, weakening it almost to the point of breaching…and then recalling their swarms, before detaching and flying back to the Speeder. “Lantern, Ben, go!!”

At that, the Argo’s teleporter beam ‘ported the Thing, in his space-suit, into space, where Green Lantern grabbed him with a force-field, before spinning him around and throwing him towards the weakened section of the Cruiser’s hull, just as the Argo’s Trans-Phase Lasers disabled its shield generator…where he smashed right through the hull, landing in a semi-organic corridor, occupied by Chitari, who were fleeing as the corridor began to decompress. Holding on for dear life, the Thing stomped after them, leaping through the bulkhead door just as it sealed itself. Rolling up on his feet, Ben looked around…and found himself in a room filled with dozens of Chitari, several of which were armed.

Under his helmet’s visor, Ben grinned his famous, semi-manic toothy grin. “I hope you ugly schmucks have insurance where you come from,” he muttered…before he cracked his knuckles.

“…‘cause it’s clobberin’ time!!”

Outside the Cruiser, Superman dodged another laser-salvo, as the Argo Disruptor-blasted another fighter. There were just too many of them.

If the others didn’t get that system up-and-running soon, things were going to get pretty hairy..!

XXXXXXXX

After finding the underground tunnel, J’onn and the others came across an inactive maintenance tram; with an infusion of voltage from Android, the tram was up-and-running, cutting their travel-time down to a fraction of what it would have been, otherwise. After a few minutes, the tram let them off in a darkened chamber, lit only faintly by blue lights in the walls. J’onn closed his eyes, concentrating. “The Chitari are a few levels above us, in the control room; they almost have the network back online..!”

“Then the fools are doing our work for us.” Siryn said.

“Let’s jus’ ‘ope dey don’ do too good a job.” Gambit said.

J’onn looked to his wife. “Xi’aa, can you get yourself, Reed, and Android in position at the control console?”

Xi’aa nodded. “Just as long as they can keep up.”

“We’ll manage.” Reed chuckled. “We’ll need to get the drop on the Chitari; Siryn, can you..?”

Siryn’s eyes narrowed angrily. “Do not presume to order me about, Richards..!”

J’onn’s crimson glare cut her off. “We do not have time for this, Siryn. If you will not take Reed’s instructions, then you will accept mine. You will teleport yourself, Raven, and Jonathan into flanking position at my signal. Am I understood?”

It was the sound of the Supreme Commander of the Planetary Vanguard, nine times decorated, as much in command on the floor of this room as in the cockpit of a lead saucer-fighter. Siryn’s eyes widened momentarily…before she nodded.

With that situation handled, J’onn then turned to Rogue. “Rogue, I will need you to duplicate Jonathan’s abilities.”

Rogue grimaced. “Okay, but if Ah start actin’ lahke him, please just smother meh with a pillow when we get home.” With that, she took off her glove, and tapped her bare finger to Johnny’s forehead, just enough to duplicate his powers.

J’onn then turned to Sue. “Susan, we will need you to conceal Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler until we are all in position. K’imm and I will engage them, first; the rest of you are to hold until I give the signal.”

Sue nodded. “No problem.”

“Alright, then.” J’onn said. “Let’s move!” With that, the entire team headed towards the control center, to retake it, before the Chitari could get a lock on Earth.

XXXXXXXX

Within the control center for the Martian defence network, the eight Chitari engineers worked at a frantic pace to get the weapons system back online, their pace particularly frenzied after finding out that a Kryptonian ship was attacking their fleet. As the engineers worked, the twelve Chitari