Element
I've made 24 posts
79 years.
Boreal
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SHADES
Dec 23, 2019 19:31:36 GMT -6
Post by Atticus Gale on Dec 23, 2019 19:31:36 GMT -6
 FEBRUARY — The WatchtowerSuperman slowly drifted through the vacuum of space, his scarlet cape frozen in zero gravity. His steady hands imposed their sure grip on one of the damaged arrays of the Watchtower’s many communication towers as silent beams of light leapt from his gaze, instantly welding the pieces together. The mundane repairs could have easily been done by one of the many maintenance droids but the Man of Steel didn’t mind the work; these days, it was a much needed distraction. He found solace in the cold silence of space where few could go without the need of some form of environmental suit. Watching her cousin from one of the windows, Kara always marvelled at things he was able to do. Growing up on Earth had made him more than any Kryptonian could ever be, Kal was a true super-being.The blonde head and all too familiar blue and red uniform caught Superman’s eye. He waved, tapped his wrist and held up five fingers before shooting over to the far side of the space station. She would later catch up with him in one of the atrium’s, finding him beside the oak tree he had transplanted from the Kent farm.“It’s looking healthy.” Kara commented, her fingers lightly brushing across the initials “J.K + M.K” carved into the bark.Kal nodded in agreement. “How’s school going?”“Same ol’, same ol’.” She shrugged.“Oh?” Kal didn’t seem convinced, causing Kara to shift her weight uneasily. “Seems Supergirl was recently down in Australia.”“Yeah.” She admitted, “The wild fires were out of control.”Superman wasn’t buying it, and once he folded his arms across his chest, she knew it was all over.“Kara, we discussed this.” He calmly appealed to her. “Focus on school, keep a low profile and above all, stay away from the Nemedian.”“It was just coffee.” Kara told him, “And we really did prevent an oil tanker disaster. You should have seen him, Kal…”“Oh, I saw him.” Superman interjected, “The whole world saw. Just when were you planning on telling me about this dual venture?”Kara fell silent and Kal sighed heavily. “Look Kara, I just thought we had agreed, for now you would hang up the cape, concentrate on school and live a normal life. Above all, I thought it was clear that getting involved with one of the Atlantean Kings simply wasn’t in yours, or the world’s best interests right now.”“I know.” She conceded, crossing her arms in a similar fashion.Kal took a long pause, carefully formulating his thoughts, and that’s when Batman appeared on the far side of the bio-dome. Bruce only showed up announced if the situation was dire so with little hesitation Superman excused himself and asked if they could continue their discussion later. She agreed, preferring to have some time to consider her priorities. The two superheroes walked down the immense stainless steel corridor, one striding with radiance, the other wrapped in shadow, the cold beauty of space framed in the windows on either side of them.“We’ve picked up an anomaly in orbit over Eastern Europe. It’ll be in visual range in a few minutes.” Batman informed him.“Thanks for keeping me in the loop.” Superman expressed to his old friend.He was no longer the leader of the Justice League, that honour and responsibility now fell on the capable soldiers of Black Lightning. This was obviously something, however, that required his attention and abilities. The Dark Knight silently moved to the Earth-ward windows and peered down to the dark side of the planet, the European land mass aglow with fiery artificial light. Superman followed him to the portal of transparent steel, and his eyes instantly zoomed in on the… the ‘anomaly’. It seemed reflective, or rather it seemed to be coated in a star-field. It had a distinct elliptical shape, and it was not the absence of matter nor anti-matter. Invisible, save for distortion of it’s shape, it remained locked in orbit directly over Europe.“Have you contacted Alpha Flight?” Superman inquired.Through his lensed mask, Batman continued to study the strange craft. “They contacted us. Carol was on a routine flight when she saw it approaching.”“It’s undetectable.” Kal-El figured.Batman’s pensive silence verified his assumption.“Extra-dimensional?”“Perhaps.” Batman surmised, “Black Lightning is preparing a probe as we speak.”
“You think that’s wise?” The Kryptonian considered.“We need to know what we’re up against.”“If we’re up against anything at all.” Superman pointed out.Batman remained silent.“Stark?” Superman had to ask.“Jefferson didn’t think it was a good idea at the moment.” Bruce relayed.Superman nodded. America was far too political to trust in delicate situations anymore. Luthor only cared to do what was in his own best interests and Stark had a habit of waving a stick at a hornet’s nest. “Well, I suppose I might as well have a look.”They both knew it was safest move. Batman never considered his friend taking a risk to be the best one, but he'd already cleared the idea with Black Lightning, and Superman knew it. There were few moves one or the other could make without the other knowing.A few moments later, at one of the hatches, Batman finished closing a band around Superman’s wrist. A sensor array that would hopefully provide some answers once it got in close enough proximity to object.“Careful cuz.” Super girl offered, trying to hide her worry behind a smile.Superman responded with a confident nod as the airlock sealed behind him. Flying out into the vacuum of space as the outer door opened, he quickly approached the strange craft the space station was locked in orbit with, slowing down as he neared the titanic object’s surface. It was easily one sixth the size of the moon and definitely saucer shaped. An immense object that despite it’s size gave off absolutely no gravity.“I’m approaching the surface now.” Superman relayed.All members on the Watchtower command deck pensively watched the magnified image of the Man of Steel as he slowly neared the strange alien object.
CONTINUED TO THIS POST IN "SHATTERED SKY"
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Element
I've made 24 posts
79 years.
Boreal
|
SHADES
Feb 5, 2020 19:43:07 GMT -6
Post by Atticus Gale on Feb 5, 2020 19:43:07 GMT -6
CONTINUED FROM SHATTERED SKYAs Superman approached the inky surface of the alien object a pulse, faint even to his super-hearing began to resonate across it, slow at first, like the beating of a heart. ‘What was it?’ he wondered. A craft? An entity? The Kryptonian had never seen it’s like before.
“It seems gelatinous.” He observed, as the surface seemed to ripple like black gelatine upon water, an his x-ray vision, on a microscopic level would lend little to the mystery, except, “but it’s molecular composition is similar to a gas.”
His hand was mere millimetres form the perceived boundary of the undulating black. He could feel the cold radiating from it, far more intense that of space.
“It’s col…” The words were cut off as Superman was engulfed in an explosion of celestial proportions, his booming silent scream radiating through the deaf depths of space.
“Clark!” Batman exclaimed as Superman’s vitals spiked.
No words were wasted. He was on the move with Supergirl in tow, descending down a tube that shot him directly into his awaiting deep space exploration ship which he had on stand-by. As the outer doors opened and he fired up the boosters, J’onn J’onzz appeared in the seat beside Batman already in the process of assisting in the operation of the craft.
“Punch it!” Supergirl anxiously yelled out, and the ship erupted from it’s hold, screaming toward Superman’s last know location.
“Is it just me or is that thing getting smaller?” Batman posed to the Martian.
“Indeed it is.” J’onn agreed, his red eyes studying the black tendrils that now linked the object to Earth’s atmosphere, spilling into it like a black poison, collecting into massive, continent sized jet-black pools. “Incredible. I have never seen anything on a global scale advance so quickly.”
“Guessing Clark never has either.” Batman grimly stated.
“I see him!” Kara announced, her super-sight spying Kal’s cape flowing upon the gravitational distortions of the object. “He’s not moving.”
In the seconds it had took them to reach Superman, the black ellipse was half it’s original size, and at least a quarter of the globe was inky black.
“We are witnessing an extinction level event.” J’onn uttered in his haunting monotone timbre.
Batman wanted more than anything to take a shot at that thing, but Clark was his first priority. He brought the ship over Superman’s still form and Kara waisted little time sealing the pressure chamber and opening the outer hatch. She didn’t bother with a suit, not needing it for short periods of time in the hostile environment. Flying out, ice crystals speckling her skin, she cradled her cousin and brought him to the ship.
Batman glanced back to J’onn as he steered the ship back to the Watchtower. “How is he?”
Kneeling down, his green fingers lightly touching Superman’s temples, the Martian had just completed a full body scan and compared to what he knew about Kryptonian physiology. “I sense no physical damage, but his mind is dark.”
Batman’s eyes narrowed. J’onn could be cryptic, as a telepath he often relayed information in metaphor but he suspected that this time he was being literal. Whatever that thing was, it had somehow infected Clark the same way it was infecting the planet. CONTINUE TO 'SHATTERED SKY' |
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Element
I've made 24 posts
79 years.
Boreal
|
SHADES
Feb 18, 2020 15:44:17 GMT -6
Post by Atticus Gale on Feb 18, 2020 15:44:17 GMT -6
CONTINUED FROM 'SHATTERED SKY'Superman lay still, suspended in an anti-gravity chamber in an outer structure that could be jettisoned from the Watchtower in the case of an emergency. Every panel of the icosahedron shaped room radiated with artificially generated solar radiation to aid the Kryptonian’s recovery. In the blind white glow, tendrils of black energy whipped around his body, penetrating it, and shooting out beyond the walls and into space.
“What’s happening to him?” Kara asked, a part of her not wanting to know.
She stood their helpless, in the soft violet glow of the large viewing screen relaying a filtered ultraviolet view of her cousin. Her only family. The only other of her kind.
Batman and several others were diligently working around her, analyzing data, calculating scenarios. It was J’onn who took a moment to answer. “Your cousin it seems, has become the energy source for the parasitic entity that has wrapped itself around the planet.”“Like a leech? Can we break the connection?”“Too soon to know.” Batman interjected, in his cool dead-pan tone.“Batman is right.” J’onn continued, “The entity is feeding off of the electromagnetic energy of the planet and at the same time a tremendous amount of energy is being used to repel the solar radiation of the sun.”“So what does this have to with, Kal?”“You and your cousin have the unique ability of converting solar energy, into a form that the entity can feed off of. It would appear that Superman’s initial contact provided an alternative energy source that hastened the parasite’s process.”Kara turned back to the screen, her jaw clenching. That thing was using her cousin like a battery! She wanted to take a swipe at that thing, but it stood to reason that she would be just as vulnerable to it, and that last thing they wanted was to give it another boost. Her hands were tied. Desperately she searched the sea of monitors for something, anything that could help their situation. Her super-sight, scanned the data, taking in vast amounts of information at super-speed, processing it, and there on a screen in the back of the room she found something.“What’s that?”Without hesitation, Batman made his way to one of the redundant systems. “Someone is transmitting from the surface of the planet.”“That is not possible.” J’onn verified, “We went dark an hour ago. No signal can make it through the barrier anymore.”“Interesting.” Batman commented, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth as he quickly crunched through some lines of code. “The device this data is being funnelled through. It’s one of mine. Not only did they manage to hack it, but the signal has been boosted exponentially through my own network.”The data came through at a trickle, but in it’s entirety. It was worth the wait; the first glimpse the Watchtower got of what the manifestations of the parasites plaguing the surface of the planet were comprised of. Atticus had compiled the information and provided audio explanations, knowing enough about data transfer to take the precaution of avoiding video in lieu of the interference of the barrier. Batman was impressed, as was J’onn, ever amazed by the resilience and ingenuity of humans.“Assexual producing cloning organisms. An intergalactic virus on an immense scale.” J’onn deduced from Doctor Gale’s information. “It is too soon to say, but I might venture to imagine this parasitic entity was created eons ago. Perhaps a weapon of war, long discarded, slowly making it’s way through the galaxy.”“A weapon of war?” Batman pondered. “To what end?”“Extermination.” J’onn sadly concluded. The Martian knew well the horrors of war and the ignorant hate of racism and genocide.Batman folded his brawny arms. The Martian’s theory was a sound one. Doctor Gale had observed that the parasitic organisms were behaving with a singularly motivated intelligence which could denote programming. It was all theoretical, but regardless of whether the threat was natural or created it was an invading intelligence .“If it has a predetermined mode of attack, we can predict and counter it.” Batman stated.J’onn was on it. “The parasitic organisms are evolving, growing in strength as they adapt, just like a biological weapon. Data suggests that their purpose is to target and destroy intelligent life that would be a threat to the membrane. But observe.” The Martian brought their attention to a three dimensional hologram of the planet with the membrane superimposed around it. He then revealed the flow of energy through it, pathways flowing through it, collecting in vast areas, flowing and undulating with certain purpose. Observing the membrane in it’s entirety the horrific reality became obvious and it was Batman’s cold logical tone that stated what they were all thinking,
“It’s alive.”As if on queue, the Dark Knight’s definitive acquiescence was punctuated by an explosion over Russia. They had deployed a nuclear missile, it’s destructive force tearing through the recently solidified membrane. Superman shuddered and screamed in pain as if his own flesh had been penetrated. Present members of the Justice League then watched in silent awe as all the energy of the membrane was directed to the hole, and in a matter of minutes the wound which measured ten kilometres across rapidly reconstituted.The heaviness of hopelessness simultaneously fell across the shoulders of the superheroes as the organism’s circulatory functions normalized. Only Batman remained in motion. “Replay the attack.” he called out to J’onn, snapping the Martian back into the moment.J’onn complied, reversing the holographic recording then playing it forward from just before the nuclear strike. “Slow it down.” Batman directed, slowly circling the rendering. He was looking for something, then all at once they all saw it. “There you are.” he growled.There were definite spikes of energy that could be seen with the naked eye, a flash accompanying the noticeable distribution of energy through the entire membrane. Eight distinct locations reacting simultaneously and J’onn immediately pinpointed the geographical locations: Bolivia, Argentina, America, New Zealand and North Sumatra.“Vilama, Island Park, Cerro Galán, Lake Taupo, Yellowstone, Cerro Guacha, Lake Toba, La Garita. They’re all caldera. Super-volcanoes.” Batman grimly defined.
CONTINUED TO SHADES
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