14127/Astra's Final Solution - The Time Machine

Astra's Final Solution - The Time Machine
Date of Scene:	25 February 2023
Location:	Prime Timeline, Earth
Synopsis:	When Astra In-Ze turns up in a scout ship declaring she's
Cast of Characters:	Alura In-Ze, Monet St. Croix, Caitlin Fairchild, Divine, Conner Kent, Donna Troy, Clark Kent, Bruce Banner

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Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura is in a focused mode, her eyes scanning over holographic symbols flying past her as she reads through more of Earth's history. There's so much of it that even with super speed she pauses and follows random tangeants. Jumping down interesting little side holes to the main events.

She is, in short, enjoying herself immensely. The unsubtle nature of the broadcast catches her attention, as no doubt it does everybody else on the planet listening. That the message is in Kryptonian is likely the only thing that stops the majority of people understanding it.

"Alura, my sister, I know you are down there - somewhere. Suffering. As we all have been. Now it is done - I have fixed it. You can write me as a hero in your memoirs."

Alura sits bolt up right the moment she hears her twin sisters voice. Astra In-Ze. She was meant to be imprisoned in the phantom zone. With a swipe she dismisses the holographic interface and moves outside. Up in orbit she sees it - a glimmering shining star that should not be there, moving. She focuses in harder - a Kryptonian crystaline ship in orbit.

Touching the communicator she linked in to Kal's systems she says, "That's the voice of Astra In-Ze. She's a Kryptonian Criminal.. Whatever she's doing, whatever she's done - it can't be going. I'm going to investigate. Anyone who can join me should." She leaps in to the air and thrusts her hands forward for a rapid ascent to space.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Her own fluency in Kryptonian is rather mid-tier - it's still hard to learn an entirely new language with no linguistic reference to current planetary ones.. But she can get enough of it. And it's about Alura. That definitely has her attention over far more than anything else. So it takes her a quick journey to the Themysciran Embassy, a quick talk with whomever is present there to get included in things..

And then with whatever group is going to respond she'll be tagging along. She's not aware of the message beyond the contents of it. But still.. 'I have fixed it' is a very, very dangerous thing. And she's definitely going along with the investigation team.

And until teh otehrs are talking, she's keeping her thoughts to herself while they rendezous.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Alarms start blaring at Titan's Tower. A Kryptonian scout ship in orbit? One of their light craft represents a significant amount of firepower-- if for no other reason, than for the passengers embarked therein.

As it happens Caitlin Fairchild and Donna Troy are the ones on-hand at the Tower when the alert comes in. They scramble as quickly as they can, the two women pausing only to grab essential gear and weapons. The T-Jet self-preps and Caitlin rushes all but the most essential safety checks, and in a flash it's blasting skywards on an intercept course. It's also not exactly the most robust or combat-ready craft, so she aims to come up on the scout ship's blind side and hopefully from an angle that makes Alura the more attractive target.

Divine has posed:
Divine cannot understand Kryptonian. After all, she was grown in a vat on Earth. Plus she hasn't had the chance to sit with Superman and Power Girl to hash her whole deal out yet, since someone blonde isn't returning calls.

She can still hear the broadcast, though. She's currently perched on a roof, just watching the world go by. It's peaceful and people don't bother her up here and she can think. That broadcast is a bother though. Something about it seems familiar, but she can't parse it.

The tall woman sighs and rockets upwards from her seat, heading towards the incoming craft. This won't be a problem at all!

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner understands Kryptonian, can read it slowly and kind of speak it with Earthling accent. It is one of the languages he just knows without remembering when or how he learnt it. And sometimes incomplete memory implants give him a headache. Which makes no sense, he shouldn't get headaches.

So the message in the communicator pretty much gives him a headache. And a 'oh no, it is like General Zod again' facepalming. <<Wait, what?>> That in English, of course, <<don't tell me you also have an evil twin sibling, what gi... no, never mind, gimme the coordinates, I will try to follow>>

He rummages through the stuff in his apartment's not-very-organized wardrobe and finds the breather and a full oxygen pack. This should work for a couple hours, if he gets sunlight. Then he is off, and up, and away.

Donna Troy has posed:
    The T-Jet makes a detour to New York on the way to orbit, stopping off briefly at the Themysciran embassy, where Diana -- who is a useful person to have around if there are potentially dangerous rogue Kryptonians about -- is not available. However Monet St. Croix, who is a useful person to have around when there are potentially hard to communicate with rogue Kryptonians about, is. There's another visitor present at the embassy too - Doctor Banner, more patiently awaiting Diana's return that Donna and Caitlin are prepared to do. There's an unknown Kryptonian ship in orbit and the pair of them could be useful, so they're brought onto the T-Jet with little time for explanations before it heads out over the Atlantic before hitting maximum burn to orbit.

    While Caitlin flies the T-Jet in the direction of the intercepted broadcast, Donna busies herself sending out messages. One to Diana left at the embassy in case she shows up there in time, one to Kara's T-Com, one to the Justice League marked for the attention of Superman and Powergirl, one to Bart to pass on to Conner, and one to Alura. The messages are the same: 'In case any of you missed it, there's a vessel in orbit of Kryptonian design. We are investigating. Coordinates follow.'

    Hopefully it's not a fight, but in case it is, Donna has her lasso ready. Not every rogue Kryptonian has to be like Zod though, so Donna prepares herself to offer the hand of friendship before the fist of war, in true Themysciran fashion -- though in true Kryptonian tongue.

Clark Kent has posed:
Of course Clark Kent was busy doing the reporter thing when Alura's comm comes to him. As it was, it would be very difficult to get away from the function he was at, but it only took a little charm, a spilled glass of wine, embarrassed apologies, and he was out of there.

Moving to the bathroom, Clark removes his glasses, unbuttons his suit, shirt, and removes the tie to reveal...the S. With a flash, Clark Kent was gone, and Superman was speeding towards the location of the scout ship, as fast as he could.

Bruce Banner has posed:
An alert comes into the Avengers mansion while most of the Avengers are out Avenging, leaving Bruce there to man the monitors. "No, sorry, Tony's not here..." He frowns a bit at the message. "Alright, that sounds serious. If you need a consult or something..."

He hastily leaves a note on the desk. "Hi Team, Bad aliens may be attacking. Going to help. Don't wait up. XOXO Bruce." Then he pauses and adds another note - "Just Bruce. I've got my gear."

And with that, he makes a hasty trip over to the Themysciran Embassy for a pickup.

He glances down nervously at his ankle. "Haven't tested this outside of Earth's atmosphere though..." he mutters to himself.

He's sure it'll be fine.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura must respond to Conner. <<"She's not.. evil.. she's just misguided.">> Also she is a twin, which does sort of lean in to the stereotype there. But she's also a very good scientist. That combination was always the worst on Krypton. No other combination could do quite so much damage so quickly as a criminal scientist. With the combined trajectories of the Supers and their allies making a bee-line for the crystalline Kryptonian scout ship in orbit, streaking glowing dots in the sky that converge together.

The ship doesn't move or fight back, it remains in a high orbit. Cape and hair behave different in zero gravity, floating out as she rests a foot to her inner calf. It must be a genetic thing since Kara also does it.

Alura floats to the rear of the ship and places a hand to the crystal. A flash of light echos through it and it reforms itself in to an opening. She looks back to those in their ships and those without the need and gives them a wave. If there's one thing she's learnt through her life, don't knock back a helping hand if it's being offered.

The airlock chamber is sparse and Alura must wait for everybody else to get on board before she can equalise the atmosphere. Hanging from the walls are Kryptonian space suits. Alura has never seen them before. She's never been on a Kryptonian space ship before for that matter - very few Kryptonians ever had. When their people gave up on space they had very few uses for space ships. Only a handful were kept around in case of emergency.

She strokes a hand over the belts hanging with the suits. The design is not something she's ever seen before. The symbol upon them is not one she's ever seen before. It almost seems like the room itself is of two different designs, like a paint brush struck over half the back half but forgot to color in the rest.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The ship going up to the air and approaching the large Kryptonian construct has Monet let out a sigh as the T-Jet goes on an interceptionc ourse. Murmuring to herself. 'Why does it always hav eto be misguided?' A strange thing to her that others have so much utmost faith in thier siblings and their possibility for redemption. Something that based on her own life experiences is rahter alien, in all ironies given said company.
    But, it has meaning and hope for some of them so hopefully it would end well for a reunion. The fact however of a large spacecraft in near orbit does not lend itself to that impression. So as they go within range Monet attempts to give it a psi scan. She's had at least a litlte experience when it comes to Kryptonians and their brainwaves. She goes to try and adjust to sweep for things.
    Hopefullyt ehre won't be any form of unusual psionic defenses. A mind aboard will hopefully stand out. So hopefully if she can locate a thinking mind.. She'll be able to hone in on it and if she's really good pick up any surface thoughts.
     All Kryptonian technology seems mto be based upon interface with crystals that form networks.. So, a nicely ordered mind that has little experience with psionics might be very open. Presuming that she can in fact locate it from the distance that they're going in on, and that she can push through an entirely unfamiliar mind from kilometers away. She focuses on this even as they land, trying to get a feel for if anything and staying mostly silent rather than asking questions.
    She gets something and then her eyes snap open. "An individual is thinking dhehraoghehd." She focuses more. "Singular. Emotion of inevitable." Death.
    "Someone or something is about to die. Very, very soon."

Divine has posed:
Divine has the Kryptonian advantage of being able to survive in the vaccuun of space, though her time limit is much lower. She smiles at Alura when she catches up, suddenly thankful and hopeful that they'll be inside soon.

She marvels at the inside of the airlock, wide eyed like a child as she takes it in. She floats through, waiting with Alura for everybody else to make it in. She really would like to be able to speak again!

Conner Kent has posed:
Space is biiiiig. Even just Earth orbit. It takes Conner a while to find Alura and the Kryptonian spaceship, getting there about the same time the T-jet. He has seen a couple Kryptonian spaceships before, but they are weird. It seems about as weird as any other. White crystal spaceship. Sure, why not?

He waves at the other heroes, at least until they have an atmosphere for more. The good news is no one has shoot at them yet.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Greetings and welcomes are given as the T-jet picks up the last of their allies. Bruce Banner nets a slightly nervous but excited smile from the redhead; the physicist obviously enjoys some celebrity with this particular Titan. Monet is welcomed on board just as cordially, or at least as much courtesy as possible from Caitlin's seat at the pilot's station.

Once they arrive, Caitlin disembarks the T-jet wearing a maneuvering repulsor suit as well as a respirator hood. The redoubtable redhead can endure the vacuum of space for a while but she absolutely *has* to breathe, and she has no inherent means of flight except for the emergency thrusters.

So she grabs the back of Donna's belt and hitches a ride into the Kryptonian craft. She does make a point of putting herself in position slightly forward of Bruce and Monet; she's certainly durable enough to take on a sneak-attack from the rest of Alura's kin. Conner receives a beaming smile and a finger-wiggle of hello, but it's all she can muster until their comm systems are synchronized and atmosphere restored.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna takes the opportunity on the trip up to orbit to familiarize Monet and Dr. Banner with the T-Jet's space suits, and ensure they're fitted securely. Hopefully Bruce won't get angry and tear his. They're tough but not that tough. Still, it would hardly be the first time they had to get one replaced. For herself she seems to be content with an oxygen mask. Her armor does look a touch space suit like, but it's more that she's got rather blase about space suits after having been in vacuum a few times without one lately. Saves time.

    "Dhehrao..." it takes Donna a moment to catch Monet's pronunciation, but she gets it quickly enough. "Death. Or lifelessness. But it's not as fixed a meaning as it is in English, it can mean a final end to... something that has gone before."

    The ship is smaller than the last crystal ship to arrive in Earth orbit. Less deadly-looking than the ancient Hegemony sunstone battlecruiser Dru-Zod had arrived in. Not that anything of Kryptonian sunstone manufacture should be underestimated, but at least in this case the airlock appears to be invitingly left open, and there are friendly Kryptonians present this time.

    The T-Jet is left a reasonably safe distance, though safe is very much a relative thing in this context, so the journey across isn't a simple hop. Donna offers the security of her lasso to Monet and Bruce to guide them across the emptiness of space, and it takes a couple of minutes for the chain of four humans to make their way into the open airlock to join their Kryptonian friends.

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman mirrors the same actions that Alura had taken, and after touching the crystal, finds himself in the airlock with a push of his flight powers. Superman also takes in the space suits and the spartan airlock. Moving to stand close to Alura, Superman tests, and nods. Breathable atmosphere for everyone coming on board.

"Alura. Was that who I think it was in the message? Kryptonian obviously. She called out to you. Your sister. What is going on?"

Superman takes a few moments after voicing his concern to greet everyone. "Thank you all for coming! This is Alura In-Ze, if you don't already know her. You can trust her."

Bruce Banner has posed:
There is an awful lot going on, and Bruce is doing his best to keep up. He offers a returned nervous smile to those who smile at him, but otherwise tries to focus on the facts of the situation. He stares at some of the information on the scans before getting shuttled off into his own flight suit. "Thanks," he manages to mumble a bit, although he is not entirely convinced of how effective that will be. Hopefully all stays calm.

He follows along with the group, frowning a bit in thought at the discussion about what the meaning and implication of all of this is. Not that it is his place to judge, of course. So otherwise, he remains silent.

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura touches the wall panel once they're all in and the airlock closes behind them. The atmosphere fills the room - Kryptonian standard. It feels heavier on the lungs for those used to Earth. Alura had almost forgotten the feel of it, forgotten the feel of home. There's a pang of shame in her that she could forget something so important and so dear.

She smiles to the group and nods her head, "Thank you for coming.." she realises she's just about to repeat Kal's words and stops. Many of them know her as Alura, some as Superwoman. "My sister, Astra, ... my -twin- sister. That was her voice. I thought she was long gone. She was sentenced to the phantom zone for crimes against science."

The door opens and she turns to look inside the ship. The main section is open cat walks with a large crystaline complex system of interconnected energy beams running along the length of the space. It's confirmed strangely and Alura can't help but note that. "See that?," she remarks to the group in general not sure who would understand what they're looking at and who wouldn't, "The shields have been reconfigured."

At the head of the ship, the bridge, stands Astra. She is the splitting image of Alura. Hair, eyes, physique. She carries herself differently though - like she has something to prove. She is wearing regular Kryptonian clothing, which is to say it looks like a toga in fine white with intricate Kryptonian symbols in gold hemming on its edges. She has upon her shoulder a golden clasp with the House of Ze symbol.

Alura starts to storm toward her but then Astra stumbles and drops. Alura catches her in her arms, "Astra...!" She looks concerned as she notes the way parts of Astra seem to be fading in and out of existence. "What have you done?!?"

Astra looks up at her sister holding her and says, "I saved our people. Krypton is whole again." She shudders and coughs, "The price is worth it. I had to come tell you, so you could witness our people at their greatest."

Alura shakes her head in confusion, "What does that mean? Astra tell me what you've done. Astra..." And then her sister fades out of her arms entirely. Alura looks heart broken and devastated, "Astra...." She clasps her arms through the empty space before her, "ASTRA?!" With tears in her eyes and her mouth open in disbelief she looks back to her family, friends, and allies, hoping someone can make sense of what they all just witnessed.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The hell? Monet's eyes can only go wide as the other woman fades out of existence completely in front of her. THe mind fades as well, passing into nothingness. No signs of teleportation, just comlete mental evaporation. She can only try and calculate..

"Demise. Herself.." But why the hell invite ALura to come in over at the complete momentof her own demise? Why not -earlier- rather than those last few seconds that she would be around for? No goodbye, no greater explanation.. She goes to try and look across the bridge to get some sort of idea as to what was going on.

Some sort of crystal that might give them an explanation, something that looked like a computer readout.. She wouldn't touch such a thing herself, but she might try and see if there was something one of the Kryptonians prseent might have a clue on. She's not bothering to say anything at the moment once her eyes have betrayed their look of total surprise.

Her normal shell back around her again. She doesn't know what is going on or what has happened. Her sense of logic, however.. TElls her that something is very, very wrong indeed.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Lights flicker in Caitlin's left eye and at the readout on her left wrist. "Uhh..." she frantically tries to adjust her readouts, staring into the middle space to process the information her HUD is feeding her. "Guys, I'm reading -massive- chronoton radiation surges," she announces. "Like, I can't-- Dr. Banner, I need some help with these radiation spikes," she bids her fellow doctor. Caitlin detaches her portable computer from her left gauntlet and hands it to him so he's not cut out of the loop.

Crystalline computers aren't exactly intuitive but Cait's spent enough time with the ones at the Fortress of Solitude to be able to work with the ship's systems. A holodisplay pops up with conflicting readings across many spectral bands, some of which flatly shouldn't be able to co-exist with each other. Her eyes wince and flicker at the sheer volume of data coming at her and she is forced to dial back the output to limits more comfortable for the human eye.

Divine has posed:
Divine is not a scientist. She believes in science, but she doesn't know it. No, Divine is, to put it simply, a brute. She marvels at the interior of the ship, but doesn't get why it's special. For all she knows, it could be the standard configuration. Until Alura says otherwise, anyway.

The tails of her long coat flutter behind her as she keeps pace behind Superman and Alura. She comes to a stop when Astra appears, keeping a respectful distance as the reunion happens, and the fade out. She understands not a word of it, muttering to herself. "I really need to learn Kryptonian. Damn you, Power Girl."

Of course, she's talking to herself, but, well. Kryptonian hearing is really good. "What'd she say? What'd she do?"

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner allows himself a small smirk. Evil twins are a family thing, it seems. Although Astra doesn't look moustache-twirling evil, just kind of... smug? Until she vanishes, which is mostly puzzling.

"Krypton was shattered, there is no way even an army of Kryptonians could put it together again," not to mention the red sun (explody red sun) and the kryptonite all around.

"Uh... crimes against science, you say?" Brief pause, "what kind of crimes?" He asks, the beginning of a suspicion in his mind. To say the truth he has seen crimes 'against', well, some sciences.

Donna Troy has posed:
"Crimes against science?" Donna repeats. Could that be hopeful? It's potentially better than being banished to the Phantom Zone for crimes against humanity (or kryptonity). Donna knows the Kryptonians had some quite specific ideas about scientific morality -- Conner there, for example, would have been considered an abomination back on Krypton. Maybe this Astra is into cloning.

    "Okay," Donna mutters into her mike, words intended for the ears of Caitlin, Monet and Bruce who's suits are linked up, though audible enough to Kryptonian ears too. "Apparently this is Supergirl's aunt. Just be ready for anything until we find out what's going on. Anyone feeling squishy, stay behind me or Cait." It may not be the in-depth briefing Bruce might have hoped for to clarify whatever the hell is going on, but it's probably the best they're going to get for now."

    Before much can be said, it's Alura's sister and Supergirl's aunt no longer. Caitlin is attempting to science things well beyond the capacity of Earth science. Divine is asking for explanations, and Donna has none. "She said she has saved your people and Krypton is whole again," she translates. Conner gets a nod -- nobody can reassemble a rubble field into a planet, and doing so wouldn't bring Krypton back.

    Chronoton radiation. That's not good. That's what you get an excess of when speedsters breach the speed wall and hurl themselves bodily through the time stream, sometimes causing themselves to age prematurely, or arriving in the present day from some far future time which they're not allowed to discuss for fear of breaking the future.

     Donna raises an eyebrow at Caitlin, questioningly, and reaches a hand out to Alura's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Alura," Donna says slowly. "Do you know what she did?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Settling into his role as support for Alura, Superman smiles at everyone with a confidence that was unique to him. "It is okay to be a little disoriented. Kryptonian atmosphere and gravity is obviously different on the ship than what you are used to on Earth. Please let me know if you need any help with it."

Superman turns to Alura. His voice was warm and comforting. "I know this will be hard for you Alura. Astra was..." He doesn't comment on Alura's rendition of her history. "...still Kryptonian. We'll figure this out. Together."

Following Alura into the ship, Kal notes the same things Alura does. He simply nods, a look of concern arriving on his face for a brief second, than disappearing into confidence once more. As the scene between Alura and Astra plays out, Kal moves to back up Alura as Astra begins to fade. "Alura...!" His voice was deep, concern etched in every nuance as he listens to what Astra was saying.

Kal El's eyes find Alura's as he realises what must have happened - then he whispers, "Oh no..." Next, Superman looks at Monet, and his lips say, "Time Travel..." But there were no words.

That was when things started to go full speed ahead. Caitlin's report confirms Superman's fears. He nods to her. His eyes next find Divine. "She changed the past." Letting that sink in, he adds with a glance, "You are right Conner. However...crimes against...temporal science."

Superman's last glance was for Donna. He doesn't say anything. He nods, and knows she already has deduced what has happened. "This is the end. Unless we act fast."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Taking the data from Caitlin, Bruce gives her a nod. "Thanks," he says, before turning his attention to trying to make sense of the readings. First he needs to translate the output into something that makes sense to him, but he manages to pull that off pretty smoothly. What he is starting to get though, makes him frown. "It's not stable, I don't think," he says, before turning the display sideways as if that somehow will make the message better or clearer.

"Whatever is causing this effect...it's not sustainable." He looks towards the crystals, and then back towards where Astra was.

Then Superman offers his theory. Changing the past...

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
This is the gig. When your personal world crumbles around you, you don't get to take a time out. Not when Caitlin is yelling about chronoton radiation. Not when your sister literally disappears in front of your very eyes pulling the greatest scientific magic trick she has ever witnessed. This stabbing in her heart has to wait.

That thing that no body should want to jump to the conclusion of - time travel. But the heroes of Earth do know speedsters and these things happen. Sometimes with magic too - why not science.

She feels that hand of Donna's on her shoulder and shakes her head to Kal. "I don't.. I..." She rises slowly and looks around the bridge of the ship. Her eyes dart from station to station reading the holographic glyphs. She looks back to the machine, the engine of the ship, and how it's been changed. She gets a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Yes, it would be impossible for a million Kryptonians to put Krypton back together again - but only one Kryptonian to go back in time and change history. If you picked the right moment, the right place, the right thing to change perhaps you could avoid Krypton's fate.

She looks out the view window of the ship. Kal is right, they have to act fast - but you cannot out run time. A temporal wave washes over them but the modified shielding keeps them safe. "Nearly anything is possible if you have no morals Conner..."

What they see before them is an Earth that is unrecognisable. It has been blasted and bombed, fought over for hundreds of years may be longer. In orbit are grand crystalline ships, far bigger than the warship Dru-Zod had. Crystalline pilons hover in orbit projecting force shields. Small craft are moving about in an active warzone, with void weaponry blasting across the space. Fighting what though?

Kryptonians wearing advanced armor fly next to their ships and engage sometimes in hand to hand combat with... Amazons? "By the gods..," Alura says as she sees the devastation wrought upon Earth. "Nobody leave the ship! Paradox erased my sister and until we've moved beyond the point of paradox if any of us go outside we'll meet the same fate."

She looks around in near panic but tries to calm herself, "Everybody spread out. Sit down at a station - even if you don't know what it does - this ship is configured weirdly. We need to take command of it. Somebody find flight controls, we can't be a-"

Sitting duck? the ship rocks and crashes as a Kryptonian void weapon is reflected off an Amazonian shield and hits their ship. A small fleet of Amazons are flying through space right toward them - for they are a Kryptonian ship, near indistinguishable from the rest of the invading armada. And emblazoned on the side of those Kryptonian ships - that same symbol that was on the space suits in the airlock.

The symbol of the Kryptonian Hegemony.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And Monet tenses even as she looks out the window and sees the void, of Earth. It doesn't matter the exact circumstances. What is going on is beyond her ken on an intellectual level. But on a personal one.. This is something that every mutant at Xavier's understands.

This si the Earth in ruins, enslaved and dead. She has met too many for whom this is not a fantasy,b ut a reality in whatever form. She knows how they go in all cases. So her eyes don't go wide this time. The time for panic later. They need to do something -now-. For thier own sake.

And for that of their timeline.

"Bring us about! They'll be limited in how far they can engage and pursue. If they go too aggressively after us they'll risk being cut off from the rest of thier lines so they'll hold in place!" That was bsaic military tactics. Charge too far away, and get blocked off from your own lines.

Words - not commands, but suggestions. Donna's the one that knows how Amazons fight, Caitlin's the one that is the pilot and knows how to operate the ship. They can only do one thing over at a time. SHe goes tos nap her eyes over around the ship, trying to translate and sweep for a pilot interface. She spent so little time over on the crashed pod and her references are only three dimensional so it means little.

She moves to as soon as she's taken the five seconds it takes to refocus try to bring the rest of the group into a group mindlink. "We need to coordinate!" She calls out telepathically to the rest to indicate what she's doing with them..

But the link does not extend to Caitlin. M remembers the girl's very, very explicit preference on it so she doesn't even broach the subject.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Yeah, I'm-- I'm on it!" Caitlin calls over the din of an attack rocking their shields. She seats herself at one of the stations and slings a rope around her hips and the crystal formation to keep her at it. Kryptonian vessels aren't exactly designed with safety restraints, after all.

She brings the ship to an away heading, purposefully limping it along with the Amazons having a clear flank on the port hull. It's not so much that the vessel is -weak- there, per se-- but it doesn't have the weapon emitters configured for best effect in that direction.

"Kal-- Kal?!" she calls, making her words sharp to get his attention. "Can you give me a port window on the aft hull? Donna, Monet, you two wave the sisters off," Caitlin bids, in a clipped and rapid-fire manner. "Sign language, spoken, telepathic, whatever it takes!"

She sets her jaw and starts maneuvering the science vessel with her inexpert touch. Piloting a crystalline starship isn't exactly intuitive for non-Kryptonians, but the redhead's doing a fair job keeping up with the intense data streams. "Everyone else, like Alura said-- grab a console and let's figure out our next move!"

Divine has posed:
Divine weathers the rocking of the attack stoicly. Fights she can deal with, though the fact that she can't go out there and punch, well, that kind of kills the mood for her.

Still, the clone makes her way to a console and touches it, staring at whatever pops up like a deer in headlights. "Some days I can barely work my phone. This is ridiculous!"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yeah, I think you are right..." Conner looks at Superman, and then feels 'it'. The temporal wave that would have erased him. His existence not only depends on Krypton, but also on Earth and what Earth was to be nearly a thousand years in the future. His very existence is pretty unlikely on a good day.

And now the Earth is a warzone. Amazons? He figures they can stand the Kryptonians only thanks a lot of magic. Maybe the gods are there, too. Maybe Asgardians? He doesn't have enough telescopic vision.

Instead of looking, he sits down at the closest console. Lots of symbols he can't read well. "Hmm... <switch interface to English>" he commands in bad, bad Kryptonian. Maybe the onboard computers are smart enough. The most advanced the super-tech, the smarter it gets, right?

"It is the Hegemony, right? The Kryptonian Hegemony was pretty much Krypton Fascist phase, if they are a thing, it is not good for the... well, damn whole galaxy." He points out.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna takes in the scene outside without much reaction. Only when she looks away does she react, with an understated sigh.

    "Alura, can you figure out what your sister did and... reverse it?" she asks mildly. "And if you could point me to a communication console and the on switch, that would probably be useful..."

    Pending such luxuries, Donna flicks her T-Com to wide frequency local broadcast in the hopes that these time-distorted Amazons heading towards the ship will pick it up, but there are options for a back-up too. "Monet, see if you can reach out and link me to those incoming Amazons. I..."

    Donna leans forwards and peers through the view window, and sighs again. "This is... how long ago was the Hegemony? Thousands of years ago, right? So we've got a reset a /long/ time ago. Nothing we know is necessarily true. Anyone got any suggestions how to handle this?"

    She makes a try though. Alura, Monet and Caitlin know enough Themysciran to understand her words. Hopefully these space-faring Amazons don't actually speak a different language. "This ship is not in combat. The occupants are not part of this war. Do not attack," she orders over the radio, and if Monet has managed it, via psychic broadcast too.

Clark Kent has posed:
"Dr. Banner. We're going to need your help!" Superman nods knowing how briliant Banner was. He then moves to be beside Alura. "We still have time Alura! We can fix this, and repair what Astra has done. Deep breath. We can do this Alura." His confidence was infectious. "We have an amazing group of heroes here to back you up."

When Alura shouts about the paradox, Superman understands as his eyes sees what happened to his adopted home. "Great Scott! The Earth...a paradox!" His shout was loud but not too loud. "You heard her everyone. Bruce, Caitlin, Monet." He motions to the seats.

Superman takes the one in the central location of course. Was that the Captain's chair? Something in his Kryptonian lessons, training..."Thank you Father"...allow him to bring up the console with the comms, navigation and flight controls. He follows Monet's direction as she mindlinks and Caitlin's request as she calls out.

"Caitlin! Here you go..." Kal taps something, giving her what she requests. "Everyone hang on. Divine! Conner - you are right! Fascists is a good descriptor! Donna! Comms are there!" His motions to the side left console.

Superman's next thoughts are for Alura. "What can I do?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
"It looks like we've got some kind of shielding from the paradox wave, which means that there must still be an active device on here keeping us in a time bubble." Doctor Banner looks about for a moment, trying to make heads or tails of the geography of the ship. "If I can find them, I might be able to get us out of here." A pause. "Or at least, try to figure out what the point of deviation is and see if we can go back there and, uh, undeviate?" Clearly being plunged unexpectedly into a war zone has not had a good impact on Banner's vocabulary. And he keeps glancing down at his ankle with a worried expression on his face.

He makes use of Caitlin's data unit, recalibrating its scans for... "Ok, I think I've found the temporal drive." He looks out towards the vastness of the crystals. "Well, either that, or I've found a way to insure the Hulk never rampages again." He looks back towards Caitlin as she gives the "buckle in" advice, and sighs. "Try to keep it as stable as you can," he says before trotting off in the direction of the temporal energy.

He casts a glance to Connor as he goes. "Great. Just what we need. Nazis that we can't punch in the face..."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Pyhta-Vx stares at the new tactical information floating in the large hologram of the battle field. His long cape hangs from one shoulder, like it should, pinned there by a fist emblem emblazoned with the Kryptonian Hegemony symbol. His bushy eyebrows raise and he points.

"Who is that upon my battle field. I want them gone. Decades of careful strategic planning will be disrupted." A statesman, he treats this war as a personal game of chess. One that has been raging endlessly. The Kryptonians won't give up and the Amazons won't ever .. EVER .. Yield.

There's a buzz of communications and even though they haven't picked up on Astra's ship yet the voice and video comes through of a Hegemony Officer. He has a hardened face with scars, cuts like from a sword. This is a man who has fought Amazons and lived to tell the tale.

"Unidentified ship. You are in a warzone, this is restricted space. Identify yourself, draw back, and prepare to be boarded."

Alura stares with wonder at the emperialistic clothing he's wearing yet he's clearly Kryptonian. "What in the Rao... Astra..." Not evil, just misguided. The unintended consequences of time travel. At least she hopes that it was unintended. Earth burns so Krypton may live? that's not an equation she could ever sign off on.

Conner's console does switch to English. A dead Earth language - Middle English. Ye olde words appear on the console and it becomes apparent that Conner is at the helm of the weapons systems. 'Caste ye might against thine foe' is scripted across the top of the holographic display.

Divine has found the navigation systems and boy-howdie. A galactic map that is filled with more detail than Earth's finest astronomers could ever dream of seeing. And it is divided in to large swaths of space marked as controlled by the Hegemony. It's vast, so huge, it's hard to fathom how anyone could control that much space. But if their warriors are like Superman, only evil, then a single Kryptonian could conquer a moderately advanced world with ease.

Caitlin has the touch, but the ship has other ideas and it might take her a bit to get the hang of how Kryptonian flight controls work. But at least they're dodging energy weapons being deflected their way.

Monet's telepathy fills in the language barrier gaps for everyone who needs it. Especially when the comms come through. Alura points at the console near Monet, "Don't answer that - whatever you do. These are not our friends." Her emotions are still running high from seeing her sister disappear like that, but she is here and present enough to know what they need to do.

Conner has the right of it, "The Hegemony are mostly locked files in the Kryptonian archives for a reason. We actually know very little about them - except they were ruthless." When Donna asks for the comms she motions past Monet.

One of the amazons lands on the scout ship and she holds on to the very front over the view screen. A wicked sword in her hand pulled back ready to crash in to it. Her face is dire, filled with anger and focus... but her hand stays and she stares with confusion.

Small clunks of other Amazons landing on their craft can be heard but no actual cutting and stabbing happens to the ships exterior. Alura glances around like hearing strange groans from a submarine. "... Tell the Amazons who we are. We have only one play here. We cannot defeat them, we cannot go outside, and the Hegemony will rip us to shreds the moment they realise we're not from their timeline."

She turns to Bruce, "We have to go back. Back to Krypton's past. Stop Astra before she can change - whatever it is she changed." She brings up a holographic work board and begins to write out equations. Time travel. Of all the illegal banned technologies why did her sister have to choose time travel. "We'll have to guess - we don't know enough about Krypton's past to get this perfect right."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
Alura notices Kal took the captains chair. It has the ability to move information from station to station to keep all the crew up to date and informed. An overseer over the ship, linking everybody together in harmony. A very tricky job while making command decisions. "We're all blind Kal - shed some light on each others consoles. Ship, override." She taps on her wrist bracer, "Modern English."

Conner doesn't have to suffer Shakespeare controls for much longer as the entire ship reads from her decide and presents everything in English. It's like a revelation - the terminology and controls show just how far ahead Kryptonian space technology is.. was.

"Bruce-" She actually knows the avenger. She moves over to him and starts to rewrite her equations in English. "...This is the best guess. Let's see if we can't adjust it to whatever Astra has made here." She grimaces a touch because her sister's science is really quite 'out there' on the mad scientist scale.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Why is the way to change and fix time travel to go back in time and do it? That's how things were resolved for Rachel, for Hope, for Bishop, for Cable. To some degree. The particulars aren't quite known to Monet, even as she locks the group together over with a mental link over and she glances over to try and figure out what to do or say..

SO she moves to try and setup a mental link over from Donna out to the AMazons to give her as wide a way to broadcast as she can. Now is not the time for M to speak words that may or may not be of any use. Now it's time to let the princess do the speaking. Even as M goes to keep up the mental link amongst the rest of the group as she focuses on one thing at a time.

Keep themselves and their craft intact is their first priority. All other long term things require them to be alive to be able to fix them!

Monet braces, moving to sit down and anchor herself as she goes to swim over the sea of electronics and goes over towards wehre Divine is and tries to scan more and more displays. And reviewing everything from her memories on time travel amomngst Xavier's ilk. The depressing, depressing amount of experience.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Yeah yeah, I'm on it," Caitlin declares. "Divine, give me those hyperjump coordinates when you've got 'em," Caitlin says. The precise vector might take a little time to calculate, but she starts maneuvering the Kryptonian vessel towards her best guess. Thank goodness for inertial dampeners; they're a little underpowered compared to Terran vehicles but they at least keep people from hitting the bulkheads everytime Caitlin jukes sharply in a new direction.

"Dr. Banner, we need the spatial *and* temporal coordinates," she calls over to Bruce. "I remember Nadia Pym telling me about some research paper that Dr. Richrds did, it was..." she screws her face up, thinking hard. "The big factor was the spatial turbulence from the inboard and outboard rotation of spacetime. It had ..sssssomething to do with the ratio of universal constant attraction over the dimensionality of the hypertorus," she hazards. "Do we have anything on board besides hyperspace engines?"

Divine has posed:
At least when the console changes to English, Divine can read it.

It doesn't -help- but she can read it now!

She peers at it, glancing at Monet as she moves by before she looks back at it. "I, uh, I don't know what any of this means. I punch things, not do advanced time science! What can I do that's useful?"

Conner Kent has posed:
"Aaaah, it is Shakespeare..." but Conner has guns. Except he doesn't have much interest in shooting anyone. Well, he does, but picking a fight with a battleship doesn't sound like the best idea.

Fortunately the controls switch to modern English a few seconds later. "Alright, I am going to... send the weapon power to the shields? We have shields, right? Or maybe the engines. So. Many. Subsystems. Hey, maybe there is a time machine in the ship. If it had anti-paradox shields, wouldn't it need a time machine to generate those?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Undeviate," Donna says, snap-pointing at Bruce. "That's what we've gotta do. This is a mess that needs undoing. And undoing it may bring Astra back, so that we can tell her just how damn stupid messing with the time stream is."

    "Alura said the shields have been reconfigured," Donna replies to Conner. "I'd guess that's what's keeping us stable in a changing timestream. It's probably best not to send any more power to them until we've got an idea what that reconfiguration actually does. But... yeah. Let's avoid firing on anyone if we can possibly avoid it."

    Donna stares at the comm console, but there's not a whole lot of time for familiarization, so she gives Monet a nod and sticks to the tried and tested method. "Monet, can you add some visuals? Show me to them?" she asks. Leaving the comms console she stands before the view screen, looking out at the Amazon leader there, hoping that Monet can make it two-way, or that the view isn't a one-way thing and the Amazon can see in. Maybe they'll recognize the craftswomanship of Io and Pallas in her armor and the distinctiveness of her lasso, even if they don't recognize her -- it's unlikely, in this timeline, for this Themyscira, that there's a princess Troia.

    <<We are not your enemies,>> Donna speaks to the Amazons climbing over the ship, continuing in Themysciran. <<...Despite the appearance of this vessel. Olympus charges you to protect the Earth, and we are no threat to the Earth. I too serve Gaia. This vessel is... is not from this universe. It's too complicated to explain right now, but you need to leave and keep a safe distance from us. We are going to try to help you, please do not interfere.>>

Clark Kent has posed:
"I'm on it!" Superman says to Alura, concentrating, and coordinating. Nodding but staying silent, Kal becomes one with his station, bringing information and tactical analysis to the really bad situation they are in. The best thing to do right now - let everyone do their jobs, while providing support.

Then the Kryptonian Commander makes his demands. "Comms." Kal says to Donna, trying not to distract her, but knowing it was important, "Open a channel for me! I need to distract the Kryptonian Hegemony Commander. Maybe I can buy us some time...and the El name still holds some sway."

When the comm link was open, Kal El stands up. Looks into the holographic device, and with a firm and commanding, even haughty voice, says, "Commander. I am Kal El. You will withdraw your forces from the vicinty of my science vessel immediately, or suffer the consequences. We are on a misson of the utmost importance to the future of our Hegemony and will broke no interference. Out."

Superman sits down, and says, "You think that worked? It at least gives us a few minutes. Alura! Next move!"

Bruce Banner has posed:
He knows it. He knows this. "Yes yes, I got it!" snaps Bruce back as he is already beginning to feverishly try to work out the data he is extracting from the temporal circuits to determine where their deviation was. "I've got to reverse engineer the source of the paradox wave back to its source and then factor in the impact it had upon the shields to identify precisely how long it has been traveling to get here."

He looks over at Caitlin and sighs. "Sorry, I just...I know what you're telling me, I just need to focus, because all of this is..." He waves a hand around. He takes a deep breath. "You wouldn't like me when I'm frustrated."

Putting his attention back into reconciling the data on the display pad with the equations that Alura provided, his fingers run against the unit as he narrows his eyes. "This...wow. Yeah, she was trying an entire cultural reshaping if this data is correct. She didn't just go back a few years before the destruction of Krypton to warn them, she went back and steered them away from the behaviors that led to its destruction by countless generations."

He looks over at Alura. "Closer to the foundation of the civilization than its apex."

Alura In-Ze has posed:
"hWhy," he stresses the h before the w because that's the kind of man Pyhta-Vx is, "have the Amazons stopped attacking them." The visuals zoom in on the little scout ship and the several Amazons poised to destroy it - yet they have not struck.

"Sir, I'm detecting chronotons escaping from the shielding of that ship" One of the Kryptonian Officers at his station turns and looks with concern to the commander of this battlefield.

Pyhta-Vx had not planned for this contingent. He only has himself to blame - why not consider time travellers getting in the way of his ultimate conquest of this annoying little blue ball of a planet no one really cares about. "How divergent are they from the Hegemony?"

The Officer swipes on his console to bring up a work board and begins to do calculations. "... Sir ... -Extremely- Divergent. 2 to the 2023 improbably levels of divergent."

It's then that Captain Kal-El responds to the hail. Pyhta-Vx stares at the Captain and his extremely strange clothes. That big El symbol on his chest. His lips twist in to a sneer. "Traitor! Destroy that ship," Pyhta-Vx demands angrily and the comms shut off. Immediately a battleship made of brightly glowing crystal, a death star in the sky, turns and blasts a void beam toward the tiny scout ship.

Alura gives Kal a sympathetic look. "Hey at least we know our ancestors stood up to the Hegemony... that's something right?"

Donna's words do not fall on deaf ears. They are just the right words, spoken in the right language, to the right ears. There's no sound in space, but the Amazon on the view screen clinging to their ship draws a shield from behind her back. It has a lightning bolt carved in to it. Her sword beats against it and her lips curl in to a wicked smile. She pushes off the ship, as do the other Amazons, and then fly around to face off against the incoming attack from the Kryptonian battleship.

Alura tenses. They are walking on a knifes edge right now. "Divine - that star not too far away from us? That's Krypton. Set the course coordinates for Krypton. Bruce and I will set the time drive to jump us back.. to.. roughly the time of divergence. Wheel us around Caitlin - you should see a jump horizon come up when the destination is set."

She tries to answer Caitlin's question though and stares at the engine. "Caitlin you're not going to like the answer to that. This has been heavily modified by my sister. To call it a hyperspace engine is a stretch. It's more like a transversal conjectivator right now. Don't sweat the details, we'll sort it out."

With that battle ship bearing down on them and the Amazons giving them cover, she tells Conner, "I hereby dub thee Nazi Ship Shooter, you are blessed to press the fire button at your discretion. We just need to buy some time."

Alura can see that Bruce is getting overwhelmed with 'all of this'. So much is going on at once and she can sympathise. But his mind is seeing the patterns and she's right there with him. "It's because of Oa. They've been at war with Krypton since before memory. She'd have to have gone back quite far to course correct. Which means..." She turns and looks at that starmap. She zooms in on where Oa should be. There is nothing. "They destroyed Oa."

She looks to Kal, "Call it when you see an opening. You're in the Captain's seat after all. No pressure." Coming up with a pithy catch phrase is no mean feat after all.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
They need seconds. THey need precious seconds. And they can't exactly ask the Amazons to try and protect them over. Monet goes to close her eyes. She has only moments. Moments.. And tires to think of the most alien, most terrifying thing that she can and broadcast in as simple a frame of reference as possible. Something experienced so -different- as to leave one completely aware of their meaninglessness in the greater scheme of power and place in the universe.

She focuses. And she remember the World Eater. No, too broad in scope. Something that doesn't translate to a telepathic blast. She has to go simpler. Then she has it.

She pulls from memories. From the depths of the ocean, it came. From the horror of atomic radiation, it came. From the horrors of mutation, it came. From the most terrifying experiences, it came. From the most twisted visions, it came. Monet does not send them images of a god. Or a villain.

She sends them the King of Monsters.

Atomic first that could incinerate cities. Body larger than the ships themselves. A twisted thing which slept in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. Spikes charging with radioactive energies that could lay waste to a planet.

Monet sends them every visualization, every memory, every concept she has of the King of the Monsters.

Godzilla shall roar.

Divine has posed:
Divine looks at Alura when she gives her directions. Her expression is grateful as she turns back around to her console. She's happy to be included as her fingers poke at the holoterminal, inputting the co-ordinates the best she can.

She tries so hard, the poor girl.

"Co-ordinates entered. ... I think. ... I -hope-."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Cool, I get to shoot... would be nicer if that ship wasn't like a hundred times larger than ours." Conner is not very optimistic about their chances, but hopefully they are out of here in a few seconds.

Honestly, he has no idea what exactly is he shooting at the battleship. Space blasters, or something. Maybe chronotons? His sci-fi fu is weak, last few years he mostly watches thrillers and comedies. In any case, he aims for the other ship guns.

"I think that ship has canons larger than our ship," he comments bleakly. "I don't like the odds."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Conner, Sunstone ships will reconfigure themselves to compensate for damage," Donna says, moving back to the comms console now that the immediate threat of Amazons has turned into an immediate threat of . "Pepper them with shots, targeting areas where the crystal looks relatively thin, or any protuberances. Don't concentrate on one area, instead cause as much minor damage as you can in multiple spots. Hopefully that will keep their systems busier than if they're focusing on a single thing."

    Yes, Donna's faced a Sunstone battleship before, though even that one was smaller than the monster approaching them.

    In that previous battle, the approach of throwing a whole lot of confusion the way of the Kryptonians had been useful, so Donna revisits that tactic, switching comms over to the Kryptonian vessel, and switching language to Kryptonian. <<Hold off the attack! The traitors of House El are attempting... kcchk... trick you into firing on the vessel... kchhk... shields configured...kchhk temporal anomaly...>>

    Donna switches off comms and gives Kal a broad shrug. The confusion might buy them a few seconds!

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman frowns. "True Alura. I'm proud of our ancestors and the El name. That doesn't help us though. Everyone! It is about to get bumpy from here!" Superman turns his attention to his command consoles and says, "Everyone get ready! At least we have the help of Donna's Amazons!" His nod of respect to her conveys everything his words could not, especially after her words to Conner, and then her work on comms.

Standing up, Kal El allows himself a smile. Everything was slowing down as his Kryptonian powers allow him a few moments of clarity at super speed.

Kal El of Krypton and Earth glances at everyone in turn. Monet. Donna. Conner. Divine. Caitlin. Bruce. Finally Alura. Then, the screen. Coordinating with everyone on the bridge, Kal El looks to the past, to save the future. "I couldn't ask for a better group of people to go into battle with. Let's save our home, friends and family everyone." Superman motions ahead. "...no matter where you go, there you are. Fahtul!" (Kryptonian) then "GO!"

Alura In-Ze has posed:
A long time ago on Krypton...

Seated at the long rang space telescope is Feynor Zen-El. She is happily listening to music on her headphones. The data sweeps across the sky when suddenly there is a blip. Something bright. It's there one moment, then it's gone. She sits up and replays the data. Zooming in, it looks like a glowing snow flake. Frame by frame she watches it vanish itself in the night sky. Feynor Zen-El just made the discovery of a life time. An alien spaceship.

(( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHgsI5ggKqA ))