14144/Fire From The Heavens: Harbinger's Warning

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Fire From The Heavens: Harbinger's Warning
Date of Scene: 22 February 2023
Location: Downtown - New Troy
Synopsis: Alien spacecraft battle above the skies over Metropolis. But one of them proves to be an alien refugee fleeing his world, bringing warning of a terrible threat from beyond the stars...
Cast of Characters: Hal Jordan, Emma Frost, Shayera Thal, Meggan Puceanu, Zatanna Zatara, Monet St. Croix




Hal Jordan has posed:
It is a cold, blustery day in Metropolis and the skies above the city are overcast and steely grey, though perhaps the reflected light of all the towering, glass and steel skyscrappers that dominate the city's skyline offer enough of a warm glow to hold off the winter blahs. The late afternoon has rush has started and both the streets and sidewalks are crowded as a number of early commuters seek escape from the downtown core before the true rush hour exodus begins in earnest.

While things may seem rather run of the mill in the City of Tomorrow, far above in the void beyond the atmosphere things take a decidedly abnormal turn. There may be no sound in space, but it is very much like the crackle of electricity as there is a sudden opening torn and what appears to be a badly damaged spacecraft emerges. Scoring marks the hull of the oblong vessel and it trails debris leaving small holes torn in various places. Small for the moment, but growing larger as little fractures radiate out from the centers of the damage.

If anyone was watching just what was responsible for the damage would be clear only moments later when three very similar ships emerge from that same rift in space, looking in much better shape. The new arrivals almost instantly fall into position behind the damaged craft that hurtles down towards Earth's atmosphere and bright streaks of red laser light flash out, dancing around the fleeing ship, occasionally finding their mark as they leave more damage on the already critically limping vessel.

While no one might be watching that specific part of the sky at that moment, Earth is hardly without it's protectors -- or it's means of monitoring the skies above the planet. There have3 been far too many alien incursions over the years afterall. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... well, the protectors of the planets are hardly fools. The warning from the defense net of satellites goes out almost immediately.

The warning for the city below is not quite so speedy, but not overly long in coming either. As those alien spacecraft plunge down towards the ground below, those rippling bursts of red energy continue to lash out, those that sail wide hitting that cloud cover and giving quite the light show for just a moment, the sort of thing that the pedestrians below can point and gawk at -- no strangers to strange sights. Not in this city.

Then the warning sirens begin to sound.

Emma Frost has posed:
Monet St. Croix is walking along through the streets of Metropolis. Buying clothes. Her last outfit put in shreds by Creed's claws, she's out getting replacements. She's walking along and making a point to stay out of the way of people. Rather than using her mind to get them out of the way. She's in a rahter sullen mood and so is sulking. And for once not bothering to take it out on anyone else.

Then the sky above seems to warp, twist, and change. Monet goes to look up into the sky at what can only be some sort of wormhole. She looks up at it, comparing it to ones she's seen in the past. Dark Elves, Dark Angels, Shi'Ar.. So many different ones over. This one is not like those sorts of ones. The sudden ship hurtling down and the things that seem to be shooting at it has Monet going to call out, "Everyone get OUT OF HERE!" Her voice booms over as she makes it a telepathic prompt to every ordinary mind in the area. Evacuate. Get out of here. Get to cover. That's hopefully a simple enough thing to blast at as many people as possible.

Shayera Thal has posed:
It just so happens that our resident Hawk Woman is on patrol in Metropolis when the siren blare. She is right now Hawked out, full helmet and wing harness so her wing have that wonderful layer of nth metal protecting them. She hits her communicator for the Justice League and calls in, <<This is Hawk Woman, heading to the danger zone. Any back up would be helpful.>> She then alters her course and then gives a couple of beats of the wing to propel her along until she is cruise along at sub sonic speed above the roofs.

Only being able to maintain this speed for a short time she hones in on the disturbance then slows her approach and then comes to a slow glide as she takes in the two ships. She is sadly not Super Man so lifting the falling ship is out of the question. She swoops down on the attacking ship and her war mace start to crackle with electricity. She begins to target the attacking ships laser and hopes to stem the damage those will do to the fleeing ship and surrounding. With her infamous HHHHEEEEYYYAAAAHHH she tries to knock out one of the guns with the nth metal mace.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Earbuds in and wired to the latest grime track out of Manchester, Meggan spends a perfectly grey, unremarkable day back in Metropolis to take care of some very important business interrupted a couple weeks ago. Picking up a package from a shop on foot lowers her carbon footprint, even if the hyperloop system is awfully fast. The lumpy, soft shape carried in a paper bag could be anything from a stowaway cat to ten dress shirts squashed together for the Mister, given that John has a terrible way of basically wrecking those things constantly. She hums along to a chorus not fit for public consumption by anyone under sixteen, her white hair swaying in thick braids as she negotiates the business of crossing the street under the painfully loud blaring from the sirens embedded here and there.

"What now?" A visual inspection checks that, yes, the white fellow over the zebra crossing makes it legal to walk. Only in Metropolis are jaywalking tickets honestly a thing. Rather than stay put for some alarmed lorry to run into her, she instead darts for the nearest kerb. All the remaining pedestrians who don't decide to flee immediately for cover -- so the tourists and the gawkers likely to be flattened by an asteroid hint at where she needs to go.

"Oh, bloody hell, I just picked up my order! Really? Really!" Paper bag swinging on her wrist, she castigates the sky as if that actually does something. Well, in her case, it might, though she goes airborne to tuck her purchase in the arms of a statue to Superman. Time is of the essence, and without a head start, she has to make up for the seconds. She doesn't even bother to worry about tucking her t-shirt in, but boots it at a respectably quick speed to overtake the descent rate of the craft shooting at the city and the crippled ship. That means she actually loses her beaten up skater shoes, one bouncing onto the sidewalk while space elf becomes /sky elf!/

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Though she had been out of watch rotation for months, Zatanna had resumed watch duties again. It was only her third time, and she was already two hours into what had proven to be exceptionally boring amounts of screen-watching. Boring, boring, boring until it suddenly wasn't. An aphorism about war floated to the surface of her mind as she hurriedly pressed municipal alerts winging to the police and emergency services and then more broadly across the network of agencies that potentially would be highly interested in what looks like an alien incursion of some kind. On purpose or unintentional, it all rang the same alarm bells.

Once the alarm bells had been set ringing, she made sure the monitors were being covered. Mentally dusting off her hands, she drew a line in the air and portaled atop the Justice building, impatient to see what she had witnessed on screen with the naked eye. Already one of their own was in the melee, trying to down one of the attacking ships.

<<Shayera? This is Zee. Status report?>>

One persistent thought had kept her out of the fray above them. Suppose they picked the wrong side? She mutters a spell and races into the sky.

Hal Jordan has posed:
When the alert goes out over the Justice League comms Hal is actually in space already. Unfortunately, he is not within the Watchtower itself, instead outside completing some minor repairs to a damaged communications array. Others could do the work, sure. Few others quite so easily as him. Either way, it means that the teleporters that would normally offer a quick trip down to Metropolis are through an airlock. One that he would have to wait precious moments to repressurize before he could get to. So instead the Emerald Guardian launches himself from his perch, a streak of green light that races towards the glittering blue gem that rapidly grows ever larger before him before he plunges into the atmosphere after the streaking space crafts.

"I'm on my way Hawk Woman, coming in from space-side. I've got a bird's eye view and am closing in," Hal reports over that same communicator. Looks like three vessels, all of alien design firing on a fourth of similar design. Ring, analyze and identify," he instructs.

For a moment, in the skies above Metropolis it almost looks like that steely grey cloud cover that sheaths the sky above from those below is boiling, churning wildly as that damaged, fleeing ship breaks through and bursts into view, great plumes of black smoke trailing in it's wake now as it plummets down towards the city. That trio of pursuing vessels follow seconds later and that laser fire that was almost pretty as it refracted off the cloud cover is not quite so picturesque as those lances of deadly light continue to lance out, ripping into the craft that increasingly looks more likely to slam into the ground then land.

More problematic are those beams that miss entirely and begin to fall amongst the city. One tears into a parked car along the street -- fortunately unoccupied -- burning a hole through it and lifting it from that ground as it flips over onto it's side, sending people scattering along the sidewalk nearby. Another slams into the edge of a building, sending showers of glass and concrete tumbling towards the street below as a corner is shaved right off the structure.

They might not be invaders, but apparently the new arrivals are indifferent to the damage that they might leave in their wake too.

Are the citizens of Metropolis complacent? Perhaps a little too comforted by not only having Superman as the protector of their city, but also playing host to the entire Justice League? Even with the warning sirens that start going off there is a sense of order to everything below. Plenty of people stop to gawk at the skies above -- especially when the alien craft burst into sight -- but a goodly number of others immediately start heading towards the nearest subway or Hyperloop stop, knowing well by know that they serve as the best shelter at moments like this. And those others? Perhaps they are spurred on by the first of those laser blasts tearing into the city streets. Or maybe it is that telepathic voice that echoes through their minds, demanding that they evacuate. It seems like good advice afterall.

There is always a danger in picking sides in a conflict that you know nothing about to be sure. Then again, when in doubt there is something to be said to opposing the aggressors. That's the thing about the League. Everyone has their own style. Some people like to question, others like to hit things. Each is effective in their own way. Certainly Hawk Woman is effective as she tears into the sky and brings that crackling mace crashing down onto one of the lead craft's laser cannons. Almost at once it veers away, now smoking as well from where that weapon has been rather forcibly removed from one wing tip. But almost at once it's two wing men seem to shift priorities, those laser blasts no longer arching down after the crashing, fleeing vessel. But instead the skies around Shayera are filled with bursts of bright red energy as they target her!

Emma Frost has posed:
This is dangerous. Monet is not fast enough or strong enough to help with most of the civilians or collateral damage. But she also might not be strong enough over to do anything to hurt these aliens or these attackers. The red lights get a quick analysis. Lasers? Plasma? Some form of other exotic energies? The large craft are darting around and firing seem to not be caring of where they're shooting at. They're hardened against space so any sort of direct damage attack on them will be ineffective.. Hmm.

Their design isn't particularlya erodynamic - at the point one has controlled spacelifhgt an dproposulion, efficiency isn't something you have to worry about or energy loss. But.. Lack of aerodynamics effects drag and positioning.. Where blunt force won't work over on a craft so big and reinforced..

Monet goes to pick up a large street light, goes to take her hand to the bottom of it to crush the end into a point.. Still keeping up her telepathic calls for people to evacuate..

Then she goes to evaluate the craft attacking Shayera. She goes to fly towards it at roughly Mach two with her long, improvised spear. She doesn't go to try and hit the craft directly.. But, she does target one of those emitters tha tit's blasting with. Hpoing to hit right over on the bulb or whatever casing is over on the weapon's edge that emanates energy. That sort of thing -won't- have as much reinforcement.. Hpoefully!

Shayera Thal has posed:
Yes once again out Hawk Woman has charged in where cooler heads might of prevailed, but what you going to do when you got a hammer everything starts to resemble nails. As Zatanna chimes over the Justice League commlink and Hal Jordan she tries to remain calm even as she comes under fire. She uses one of her wings as a make shift shield as momentum propels her to the next target thanks to the anti gravity properties of the nth metal. <<We have three hostile ships attack one that appears to be fleeing. Need people on crowde control and see about making sure the ship doesn't take to much damage..>>

She spreads her wings and breaks into a high speed roll as she lets the laser trace her then at the last second speeds up and attempts to get the laser of one of the ships that is attacking her, that nth metal mace once more sparking with electrical current and the anti gravity generator increasing the damage by making the mace impact even more devestating.

Still one of the lasers manage to graze her and she begins to lose her aerial balance and starts to trumble before at the last moment her wings extend and she manages to break into a glide with a nasty burn on her side. << Watch the lasers they hurt. >>

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
More defenders take to the sky, one breaking the sound barrier not far from her air born observer's position. Only one laser lancing towards Hawkwoman is enough to decide Zatanna and she launches into the fray. A familiar magical signature sings to her as she rises higher into the sky.

<<Meggan?>> she tests, winging her a message to the sorceress magically.

Hawkwoman's alert cuts across her words, without a second thought, she sights her comrade and snaps a spell, "! resal dleihS"

A mirrored bubble surround Shayera, transparent from the inside, making her all but invisible from the outside.

<<Lasers hurt! Are you alright?>> They are new enough to one another for Zatanna not to be sure whether she can heal rapidly or not.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Crowd control could be the empath's job, but she's already airborne and he changes of state can absolutely cause havoc on any sort of comms forced to stick with her. While she has a voice, the Englishwoman coursing upward on an increasingly speedy trajectory breaks into a laugh. <<Maybe they're like sharks and get messed up when you flip them over? Hullo, Zee, up to no good right now.>>

No good starts to become apparent as the normal-sized woman becomes slightly taller, most definitely stronger looking in the process. Moreover, the frigid white contrail stretching out behind her, blending with her hair, ignites into crackling icefire as she sweeps up under one of the ships that Shayera has decided not to assault personally. The more fragile underbelly of the invading ship somewhere behind its wings where simple principles of thrust and lift play out like a fulcrum is instinctively where she heads, her hands pushed out in front of her. Fingers curl into fists, and while she may not have a mace or a ring, she doesn't need them. Raw strength upgraded by a last second run of speed may be all she needs to knock the ship back. It may disagree.

She may go after its tail to yank it just in case.

Hal Jordan has posed:
<< The ship appears to be Kalanorian in design. >> Hal's Power Ring reports helpfully. Then, almost as if anticipating the obvious follow-up questions that are to come the ring continues on. << Kalanor was a primarily agrarian society located in Sector 1774. They developed space travel well over a century ago but aside from modest interstellar trade that have shown little interest in galactic affairs and in turn the galaxy has taken little interest in them. Nearly a decade ago Kalanor seems to have undergone a radical shift as a religious zealot seized control of the planet in a shockingly short time. Their entire culture changed practically overnight with few apparent signs of dissent and they cut themselves off completely and began a rapid process of militarization. Currently the planet of Kalanor is classified as 'Avoid' by the Guardians. >>

"You're nothing if not thorough," Hal retorts drily as he streaks downward, plowing through that cloud cover moments later as he takes in the scene over Metropolis. "I hope you all got that. I think it's to say that our visitors are not the sort we want to have over for dinner. Since you seem to have the greeting party well in hand, I'll see what I can do to keep them from tearing up the lawn," he adds, a virtual streak of light as he soars straight past Shayera, flicking a casual salute her way as he chases after the plummeting, damaged craft that almost falls towards the heart of midtown -- more falling brick then spaceship at this point.

The alien craft are fast, there is no doubt about that. Perhaps even faster then Hawk Woman. But they are also clearly not designed for atmospheric flight, at least not primarily. They might keep up with Shayera without difficulty but when she banks they just can't quite keep her in their sights, another spray of lasers blasting harmlessly across the sky in a burst of bright red light. Try as they might, those tracking systems just can't keep up and the fixed wing mounted weapons prove useless with her swooping down from above to smash one of the cannons on the second of the alien fighters.

Only an instant later the ship is entirely disarmed when Monet streaks up from the city streets below, that light stand proving an effective if unexpected sort of weapon as it comes down hard on the opposite wing, crushing the other cannon, leaving the ship to soar on, wavering erratically from the damage to it's wing mounts.

The second of those wingmen is still armed however and it once again comes about, bearing down on Shayera, intent on putting an end to the troublesome winged woman. Lasers flash out, dancing around Hawk Woman -- who quite suddenly seems to impossibly vanish. Before the pilot of the attacking craft has much time to dwell on the matter however that third ship lurches hard, it's momentum interrupted and it to begins to careen wildly as Meggan goes to work.

And the final ship, already disarmed by Shayera? It still plummets after it's falling quarry, racing towards the ground below seemingly unconcerned about it's lack of armaments, only building up momentum...

Monet St. Croix has posed:
M is not hookd over into the Justice League communications, so she's just focused over on the craft and mitigating damage. Presuming that if Shayera is hitting it then it has to be hostile. The Justice League wouldn't send out anyone smashing and trying to destroy it all if it wasn't hostile and not some intergalactic understanding, wouldn't they?

The craft aren't designed for atmospheric flight. That makes them handle just a little off. A pilot used to space will have some issues in atmosphere in combat. So that's just a very small advantage they have. The trick is to hit it in places it's not as armored. Given it's designed to fight war in the void of space, to hold off the radiation, the micro-projectiles of asteroids.. That's rather hard. Then the wingman is going on the attack and Shayera.. Vanishes? Apparently flying Thanagarians can teleport at close range. Useful.

She still has a giant spear, and there's that one careening down.. And then that big one is flying on down. And down. Very, very fast. That sort of impact would be catastrophic if it does hit. She can only swear..

She goes to try and put as much brute force as she can into a telepathic command. She doesn't know the pilot. She doesn't know the species. She doesn't know who it is. How they think. She only has seconds. For someone or something she has no eye contact with. The command is short, desperate, and given her only moderate power and skill, likely nothing. But the command is all about intent. Steel willpower. Seething rage.

<<STOP>>

Shayera Thal has posed:
Shayera braces and brings her wings around for what might be her last desperate act of defense. But thankfully when the barrier is formed around her and deflects the incoming attacks she breaths a sight of relief. << Thanks Zatanna, I owe you one.>> She decides to scoot while the scooting is good and beats her wings and soars along at ground level before tilting and gaining altitude. She takes in a birds eye view as she listens to Lantern debrief and comms in. <<So what are they doing here on earth? Doesn't look like they have come to sight see. Also heads up looks like one of them is going for a kamikaze. Someone might want to get that.>> She decides that the second wing man has to go.

Coming in from above she slows and then starts to come in close to where the engines are and then extends the wings to their maximum reach before speeding up using the sharp nth metal wings to perform a fly by on the engines, weaving, looping and diving to avoid the engine burn but try and take out the engines of the ship seeing how she doesn't want to risk another laser hit. << Get ready to catch this one too. >>

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The sky above the city populates quickly with defenders, one of them at least, unknown to Zatanna.

<<Nothing like religious zealots to make one's day. I'm not inviting them to tea. Hal, who is that attacking a ship with a spear?>> It gives the mage the willies to watch someone so small go head on with a speeding alien space craft. It didn't phase her to watch Meggan face off with one but then again the mage knew what a punch she carried. Adversaries consistently underestimated Meggan much to her amusement.

All of this races through Zatanna's head as she turns in place, tracking ships....one, two...Oh, no! Three.

For one terrible moment the homo magi can't think of a spell. Her rational mind can't deal with the physics and the velocity. She reaches for the elements instead.


R    "!ria hsuP"

Below in the city, trees will bend under the change of air pressure, hats will fly, paper and plastic flutter down the street as a tremendous column of air pushes the plummeting craft - hopefully to bring it to a standstill.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Basically half of what the Ring reports is as good as Greek to Meggan. And her without any handsome Dimitrios to borrow a language from. Or Maria. Equal opportunity abounds! "Just like Doctor Who, and me without my sonic screwdriver." The lamentation dancing through her veins ignites the white flame lapping at her fingers as she drives the digits against the hull plating on the ship where its tail meets the body. Or whatever constitutes the back end, and a presumed soft spot that she can repeatedly stab at until forming a hole. Nothing quite like wrecking the aerodynamic features or the integrity of a spaceship to make it un-air-worthy.

Playing too many video games while Constantine stares blearily at the screen trying to make sense of the nonsense likely has given her that much insight on 'wrecking stranger attacking Metropolis.' The empathic gifts aren't loudly turned on the crew inside, assuming they might be anything short of robots, but she isn't out to openly obliterate the aliens inside.

Only scare them considering all things. <<You'll still invite me, though, luv? And her too if she wants to give this a great big poke.>>

This being whatever handful of metal she tears away gleefully until the innards show. Then gods help the girl spring-pouncing the electronics or a power core or a pile of tribbles -- please don't give her tribbles -- to yoink them all away.

Hal Jordan has posed:
While things might not be entirely resolved -- not yet at any rate -- the situation is increasingly well in hand. No more streaks of red death cut through the sky, the constant barrage of energy weapon fire cut off for the time being. The two ships that were focused on Shayera continue to soar though their paths are increasingly erratic from the damage inflicted upon them by Hawk Woman, Monet and Meggan -- airborn but little more then buzzing distractions. And for one of them that too comes to an end as the Thanagarian goes to work on it's engines, beginning to trail it's own cloud of black smoke as it begins spiraling towards the ground.

Of course that second fighter is being well attended to as well. While Meggan's methods might not be quite as smashy smashy as an Nth metal mace, they are just as showy in their own way, at least for anyone close enough to appreciate the those burning hot digets that carve through the spaceship's hull like it is little more than melting butter. What little flight integrity the vessel still has pretty much seems to abandon it as those inner workings are exposed. Bits of metal and wire and various half-melted components start leaking from the craft like a trail of blood and the ship begins to yaw wildly, starting to roll upside down in a clearly uncontrolled spin.

As for the lead fighter? It continues that dive after it's fleeing prey, seemingly intent on ramming it straight into the ground -- though there seems little enough need for that. With engines that are still fully operational it gains grown, those thrusters flaring bright. But then it starts to slow. The rapidly closing distance between the two crafts stabilizing. Is a certain telepathic command responsible? Did it somehow reach the pilot? Despite being an entirely different species? Either way, the craft remains a mere dozen feet shy from plowing into the fleeing vessel. Stop however? That it does not do. Momentum is a bitch.

Of course Hal has a little practice at dealing with those too. That ring of his sparks brightly as he brings his ring to bear, a huge, green baseball glove streaking out ahead of him, stopping in front of that lead fighter and wrapping it up. That, combined with the dying engines is enough to bring it's momentum to a sudden standstill. Team Hero: One. Physics: Zip-all.

As for the ship under attack? It has a much gentler stop when Zatanna goes to work. Magic stirs up that air, gathering it into motion, forcing it wafting upwards to cradle the plunging spaceship. Caught on that invisible column that rapid fall comes to a gentle stop, held aloft above the city -- a burning, smoking wreck?

"Hey, look at that," Hal calls out over the comm. "All's well that ends well. Can't say I recognize the woman with the light stand but looks like there might be time for introductions," he comments.

Which is when there is suddenly a small explosion. A part of the vessel caught in that emerald baseball glove bursts free of the rest of the ship, racing away and veering down towards the smoking ruin held aloft by Zatanna's magic. A life pod perhaps. In a flash it slams into the vessel, latching onto and sparks are visible as something begins to cut through the hull of the crippled vessel.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The point of the telepathic yell is to get the pilot to hopefully gooff the controls. Whatever advanced tech the craft has it's still beholden to momentum and ienrtia, yes. But hopefully those extra four or so meters without the kamikaze-inclined pilot going to hit the afterburners makes just a few thousandths of a second difference over. Things seem to be mostly resolved for now, even as Monet goes to watchat the Justice League. This seems to be rather well in hand. The Green Lantern has stopped the craft, the attack is over, and the damage is contained.. Meggan gets a quick glance from M that might not be noticed in the exchange in the first, distance, and Meggan having lots of sparkly lights about to keep herself distracted with.

She's about to approach the League to make some sort of smarmy remark right when -something- goes to attack the ship and move to blast right inot it! Whatever it si catches her by surprise as she's flat-footed (or flown, still being up in midair)

Shayera Thal has posed:
<<These people are persistent!>> Shayera barks over the comms she breaks off the craft she has disabled and then streaks towards the besieged ship. It is damaged so it doesn't take her long to spot a opening in it. <<Going in!>> She banks and goes into one of the holes and then brings her wing out to halt her and land gracefully inside. She hopefully doesn't end up getting shot but she she is on a mission as she starts to make her way towards the area the escape pod is trying to cut its way in, tucking her wings so that they don't get in the way of start knocking over thing. During the press through the ship she keeps her eyes and ear open, having the seeing and hear of a owl is great for spotting ambushes.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Not fair!" Zatanna yells, plaintively sounding like a kid in the middle of a game. She tracks Shayera banking toward the craft under attack, still at rest on the column of air.

<<Persistent doesn't cover it. Someone is dead set on murder from the looks of it. Shayera, I'm joining you.>>

The mage rises in the air level with the alien craft, hesitates then follows Shayera in through one of the holes. Cautiously, she moves down the alien corridor.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Hello, lady with a lamppost! Are you Miss Liberty? Ooh, or perhaps The Lamplighter? Ms. America is taken, so perhaps... Columbia?" Trust Meggan to recognize the chick with the lamp from watching far too many movies as a child. Far too many shows, because a pair of bunny-ear antennae are about the best you get up in Lake Country where the concept of cable means 'transatlantic' and laid by a ship called the Great Eastern.

She still waves at Monet with great enthusiasm, finally giving the ship she has demolished from being terribly useful at its job a good shove to suggest it rest upside down on the ground, where it belongs. Most safely done, this means landing it in a carpark or the closest open space she can guide it to helpfully. Destructive sky elf, one; environmental damage, nil. Together with Hal's impressive glove antics, Shayera's mace, and Zatanna's enveloping spells, she can count herself almost worthy!

"Should we go in there after her? I don't want to leave her to all the fun but...!" Oh gods, /Zatanna/ goes in?

No further is that a factor than Meggan flies after the women, zipping through a gaping hole in the hull. Or a very small one. If she has to go to her air form, she will. <<Don't get too far ahead! That's when the space worms invariably show up!>>

Hal Jordan has posed:
So much for things being wrapped up in a nice, tidy bow, huh? So close, and yet so far. "Religious zealots. They're just made that I robbed them of a homerun with my impressive defensive glove work," Hal echoes, a certain exasperation in his voice. Like the nearby Monet he is too a little taken aback at the unexpected explosion on the swift little escape pod that latches onto it's target at last. But while he might be a second too slow to stop it, that doesn't mean he's not perfectly willing to throw himself into action to try and make up for it.

Even as the Green Lantern starts to lower the captured space craft to the park that sprawls out in front of the Hall of Justice a second beam of emerald light is already springing forth from that power ring, swiftly forming into a giant wrench. It wraps around the life pod, clamping down before he tears it away entirely... revealing a gapping hole leading into the ship. Apparently he's just a moment late once more, but hey, another way into the ship.

It is not the only way into the ship however, as Shayera demonstrates, followed shortly afterward by Zatanna and Meggan. Indeed, the ship is practically riddled with tears and gapping holes. As for the interior? To call it a mess would be putting it mildly. The atmosphere seems safe enough, though filled with a miasma of smoke that makes it decidedly unpleasant. The smell of burning metal and wiring is everywhere. In various places the bulkheads bulge, twisted and misshapen and lights flicker an ominous red, briefly plunging things into shadows that are only lit by those same holes. Dangling wires hang everywhere, sparking dangerously.

And up ahead? Up ahead there is the sound of shouting. Shouting in some strange alien language. A sealed hatch lays partially open, a hole apparently melted in it. The bridge of the space ship seems to lay beyond and a figure stands there. Clearly aggitated, perhaps even enraged, he gestures with what appears to be some sort of weapon, standing menacingly over a fallen figure on the ground who clutches at his side, a puddle of rapidly growing blood spilling across the floor.

And if there was any doubt they were alien? Well, the pinkish-purple skin and the fin that rises up from their hairless head clearly says that they are anything but locals.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And a few moments later there goes Monet St. Croix racing after them. She moves to go at a slower speed than the others. She doesn't have thier experience at flight or their ability to turn so deftly as the others, who fly by ring and magic. She goes to join the fliers after giving Meggan a -look- as if she knew how that particular train of thought went, despite the peculairties or near impossibility of reading Meggan's consciousness.

Monet goes to quickly move to try and scan the mind over of the alient hat was threatening the others, and moves to try and quickly latch onto it's mind to try and get a feel for it's language. That of it so she could properly tell it she was going to beat i tto a bloody pulp after this, space cop or not. But she's not charging in at least, nor is she giving telepathic commands as the shouting goes back and forth.

She leaves this to the Justice League. When one isn't sure exactly what's going on, one defers to the more experienced ones. There aren't any others from Xavier's present here, and she's not synced up with the remainder of the group. So best not to do anything that might mess up thier own plans.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Shayera thumbs a setting on her war mace, going for the 'stun' setting on it. <<Got hostile's, engaging. We might need a telepath to communicate too and a medic.>> She knows that they have no shortage of telepaths around the city. Of course Shayera is not going to do the civilized thing yell out for him to surrender and put down the gun, face justice. In one world! No she raise the War Mace and goes to club the man like a baby seal. "HHHEEEYAAAHH!!" As she charges and tries to wack him over the head with the thangarian war mace.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Coughing and waving her hand in front of her face against the smoke, Zatanna walks quietly down the corridor. She hardly needs to avoid being noticed, she realizes, as she comes on the tableau of the gun-toting alien with his prey bleeding out at his feet. A smile animates her face when Hawkwoman screams down on the shooter.

With a twist of her wrist, Zatanna adds insult to injury. One word suffices: snake, spoken under her breath. Suddenly, the alien gunner is holding a twisting, squirming reptile in his hand.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Welcoming brigade!" That's wagon for you Yanks. "Hullo!"

Shayera might be the smart one calling for a medic and then macing. Zatanna sees fit to threaten a warrior with his own gun, very tactical of her. And Monet not rushing in like a lunatic, cagey and thoughtful. If she could see Hal's rescue, she might nod with proper approval. Nonetheless, none of these restrained, battle-hardened souls is a being as much elemental force as mercurial thought. Neither is she much in the habit of meeting aliens, even hostile ones.

"Ooh, that leaves the bleeding one for me! Shotgun!"

Luckily for the alien, she doesn't have a shotgun, summarily wading through whatever wreckage and dangling wires catch her hair -- and that earns a reproving yelp and swatting angrily at the offending roof tile that promptly crashes to the ground. Well, sometimes you just can't win.

If she can pull the poor bleeding soul away, all the better. That nasty bit of an injury on their side cannot be good, either, so the story of a hundred telly shows prompts her to slap the wind down on it. Sort of-- a wind bandage that simply packs a sticky bit of air over the hole so nothing quite leaks out.

Hal Jordan has posed:
It is no small feat, to reach into another's mind, to pull the building blocks of their language from them, to learn to communicate. Even moreso when that mind is completely foreign, not only from a different nation but an entirely different world. No small feat, but then Monet has already touched another alien mind once today so while it may be a little overwhelming, just how to communicate with the fanatical alien as those shouted words increasingly form up and make sense to the mutant.

That might solve the language barrier for one of them, but it still leaves just a bit of an issue for the others. Fortunately while Hal might have been seconds too late to stop all of this, he does have his uses. In this case it is a simple, one word request; "Ring," the Green Lantern says. And once more, as if it were reading his mind the sound of that disembodied voice fills the smokey cabin with a running translation.

<< ...repent blasphemer! Repent and surrender the Flame to me now! Repent and accept the Third Eye back into your heart, into your mind >> the armed alien rants before abruptly screaming << GIVE IT TO ME NOW! >> he bellows, bringing his weapon to bear on the fallen, dying figure.

Which of course is when the League intervenes. Perhaps it is instinct, or perhaps it is Shayera's startling loud cry that cuts above even his ranting. Either way, the fin-headed alien stumbles away at the last second as that mace comes crashing down with all of her might, ripping into the floor where he was just standing. Screaming -- and tranlated by the ring -- << For the Flame and the Third Eye! >> he whirls to bring that weapon to bear and instead finds a snake coiling around his arm, hissing at him menacingly. Desperately, he starts to shake it wildly, trying to dislodge the creature -- leaving him painfully, completely open to his well deserved fate.

Just to be on the safe side, Green Lantern intervenes once more and a glowing green wall springs up, splitting the cockpit in two, leaving the two aliens separated by a barrier of sheer willpower, insuring that no matter Meggan has the time and space to do what is necessary.

But what is necessary might be just too late. As the increasingly unstable ship seems to be coming apart all around them, as she starts to pull him out of immediate danger, out of the line of falling debris, he weakly waves a hand at her, gasping, breath rattling from lungs that seem to be on their last few moments. << It's too late for me. You... have to keep it from him. You have... to hide it. Protect it. My people, >> he says, a rattle running through him as eyes close in pain. << Help them if you can. But if not, deny him the Flame. He will burn it all. The entire galaxy. Keep... it... safe... >> he orders, weakly reaching out, tapping one of the buttons resting on the side of the pilot's chair.

At the back of the small chamber a small panel suddenly slides aside and a moment later a transparent cube emerges. And suspended within? A bright, glowing flame that burns without any apparent source of oxygen or fuel.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Also for Shayera, there's likely the instinct honed from war, conflict, and life in law enforcement that has her bringing down the hammer. Police brutality seems to be a universal thing throughout the cosmos, as the sounds of beatings go through the air over. Monet goes to try and quickly shift the language over to bring out some ability to translate and goes to rapidlys peak

<<Can you handle medical treatment of them?>> She can only get a few words out as the crystal, the energy source that he had desperately fled the cosmos from to arrive ont his strange planet goes to glow.

Leaving it to Meggan to hopefully treat him, the Lantern to also possibly stabilize him.. Even as Monet goes to turn to the energy source to try and see what hse could gleen from it. If anything. Her experience in extraplanetary energy sources rather limited (by which we mean completely nonexistant). As the beatings of Shayera would go on, she would look over about the craft, attempting to ascertain whether it would be collapsing around them any moment now on top of everything else.

Shayera Thal has posed:
Well thankfully Green Lantern didn't separate Shayera from the other alien. While this impressive speech goes on she is not inclined, as most of her D&D characters are to grab the shining thing. It is up to her to play seal clubber two, electric booggaloo, as the mace comes down and smashes the floor leaving a nice crack in the floor of already unstable ship. She she bring it up and circles the man holding a snake that if it bites her will have five agonizing days of pain before the snake dies. She decides to go simple, she is going to go for the middile as she rushes forward and attempts to bury the head of the mace in the aliens gut to knock the wind out of him and if that works then she is going to hit him over the head with the butt of her mace.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Without the Ring, the only way Meggan will understand beyond the obvious throes of pain is by gleaning the gist. Something of critical importance that way underscores the surrender already to the sombre grey veil of death. Were she aspected to spring or summer, the outcome may be very different. Meggan in her warmest or fiercest state would brave to pull this unknown exile to Terran shores back from the brink if she could, trying to ignite the fire in their heart or breathe out hope to a point where his systems might just adequately function until someone else delivered lifegiving treatment. Where's a bat-doctor when you need one?

Alas, it is winter, and when the Otherworld tilts Unseelie, their youngest goddess goes with them. A time of secrets and stealth, sorrows kept to the heart and masks worn rules, even so, and she is bound merely to nod in that somber, precise fashion.

The icy blade of empathy can cut both ways; push the agony to a distance, silence its presence.

"Mr. Lantern, this is your honoured duty, aye? Or is fire calling for the Hellblazer?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It's a solemn moment, watching another being transition into a state beyond ken. Only the exceptionally gifted or those chosen to accompany the dead could follow him. Zatanna is too late to intervene and save the dying man. Metal screeches as the ship dies around them, joining its former pilot.

The translation explains most of what they have witnessed. A holy relic is at stake, perhaps the fate of an entire planet and now Earth is embroiled in the dispute. Zatanna follows her instincts, protect the Holy Grail and figure it out on the fly. She honors the newly dead. Two quick steps take her to the sliding panel where she pockets the cube.

Directed to her comrades in arms, "Think we can protect it in the Hall of Justice?"

The flame within the cube has already warranted murder and wanton warfare over a civilian area. The mage hopes that its pursuers will be contented with out of sight, out of mind though she doubts it.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Hal is a test pilot. More over, when he goes up in those experimental aircrafts, when he pushes them to their very limits -- and just maybe a shade or two... or ten... past them -- he refuses to wear his power ring. It feels like cheating. So some might consider him to be a little crazy.

But there's "crazy" and then there is CRAZY. Getting between Shayera and someone she's bound, bent and determined to smash seems like it would fall into that second category. Noooooooooooooo thank you.

So unfortunately for the flailing purple-skinned alien there is no one to intervene when Hawk Woman launches herself at him. It seems like he knows it too and he screams again << The Flame and the Third Eye! >> as he reaches for the knife at his side, drawing it from it's sheath. But he doesn't try to lash out at Shayera with it. No, he turns it around as if to drive it up into his own heart. But before he can that mace connects solidly, doubling him over and making his breath explode from him, weapon dropping from suddenly numb hands. That sharp rap with the hilt of the weapon finishes the job, sending him crashing down to the deck that shakes ominously under his impact.

If Monet needed any other clues that the structural integrity of the space craft is indeed failing, well, that would probably confirm it. Still, for good measure there is the painful sound of metal twisting, grinding and the cockpit lurches, suddenly tilting at an angle. Fortunately she's not the only one justly concerned about the ground they are standing out falling out beneath them.

Hal nods towards the League's pre-eminent sorceress and flashes a tight grin. "I got it covered, since everything else seems to be in hand. At least if there's nothing else for Hawk Woman to hit," he promises, a green glow suffusing the room, spreading over the bulkheads around them. The ground stops shaking, which is a plus to be sure. Here's hoping that he remembered to charge up that ring this morning.

On the otherside of the cockpit the bleeding alien's hand falls limply to the ground, his last action completed. Whatever he has brought across space, clearly he seems to feel it was worth dying to bring it to safety. To keep the Flame from the hands of the Third Eye. Ugh, cryptic nonsense. But Hal turns those now solemn eyes Meggan's way and offers another nod. "I'm not a magical expert by any means, but I don't think it's magic. Whatever is in that cube though, the power readings? They're off the charts. Maybe extra-dimensional in nature," he offers up before turning back to the source of their info updates thus far. "Ring?"

<< I have no further information to provide. There is no record of a 'Flame' or 'Third Eye' in any Kalanorian recoreds that I have access to. >>

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Unfortunately, quantum geo-mechanics or xenoterrestrial power sources or multi-dimensional physics are far, far beyond Monet's grasp of mathematics and geometry, which only extend to five dimensions. So she can but shake her head over. "Is this thing safe to remove?" She would gesture over at the power source before going to watch the enthusiastic beatings given over to the purple thing. She can only watch as Shayera moves to make a -second- thing into goo on this evening's melee before offering.

"I think it's primary eyestalk was looking over at you threateningly. You should make sure to teach it proper respect and boundaries and ensure that it isn't a possible threat to anyone else around." Did it have a primary one of those? OH well, it was certainly wiggling something about, and that was enough for M to support the alien warrior women with wings!

"I take it that you're going to take this.." The ship. "And that.." THe energy source.. "For analysis?" And the dead alien for repatriation. And the not-quite-made-into-goo yet alien that still had some signs of life in him for followup investigtaion.

Presuming he didn't keep on staring and/or gesticulating at the group in ways that could be taken as indicative of a threat or lack of respect.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Flame in a cube secreted away, Zee's pockets are bottomless. The cube doesn't even make a bulge in her tailored jacket. She pats it, looks from Hal to Shayera to Meggan, "Well, this is my cue to return to headquarters, I can help get the ship down if you'd like. If not then," she raises a hand to wave and with the other draws a line in the air.

As she steps through the portal, she wings a ciao-ciao to them and disappears.

Shayera Thal has posed:
With the fanatic now out cold, she picks the guy up and reaches into a small kit and affix a pair of cuffs on him keeping his hands secured behind his back. "We can question this guy later. I keep him in a place he can try the suicide trick however." She heft the sack of potatoes over her shoulder and gets ready for Green Lantern to take them in that little safety bubble of his. Hopefully he did charge his ring cause she hate to have to walk away from the mess.

Hal Jordan has posed:
They could not save the pilot of the fleeing ship who fled who knows how far -- well, the ring could probably tell them how far it is from Kalanar to Earth -- to bring them both a warning and the strange suspended flame. Judging by the condition of the ship around them it is likely that he was dying before they ever boarded. Probably before the ship ever even entered Earth's atmosphere. It seems that will alone brought the alien refugee this far. And if there is one thing a Green Lantern can certainly respect it is the power of one's will.

"I've got it," Hal assures Zatanna, motioning generally at the bulkheads of the ship around them. It certainly seems to be holding together. Already the ship seems to be in motion, floating gently towards the ground -- presumably to land next to the other alien crafts already deposited on the Justice League's doorstep. "'Sides, I would say you have your hands full," he adds, gesturing towards the little cube of extremely powerful flame that hangs suspended by Zatanna's magic.

"Good idea," the Green Lantern says, glancing towards Shayera. "I suspect he's not going to prove very cooperative, but anything else we can find out about this 'Flame' and 'Third Eye' is probably for the good," he admits. But he does not relish trying to interrogate the man. He suspects it shall be a lot of ranting and promises to burn in the Flame. Fanatics. Ugh.

"You got it Lamplighter," Hal says, that smile once again sliding back over his features as he turns towards Monet. Apparently he has decided to adopt one of Meggan's proposed names for the stranger. "We definitely appreciate the hand out there. You do pretty good work."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod at Hal, "Of course. More than happy to assist." The Ring would, if it did scan her at all, tag her as someone with the X-Men - which were likely in the League's Database. "And I'm sure there's a lovely story as to why religious fanatics were chasing however far from this quadrant of the galaxy for that.." Whatever the glowy thing was.

Monet was not exactly the sentimental type, so it was bck to business. "IF you can safely extract the ship's log and sensor records.. Perhpas navigational charts from any of the crashed ones you can get an idea of their departure points. Followup is possible depending on how much of them is intact. THeir star charts of origin and recent transits should prove useful, and perhpas if they were given orders that might help pursuit."

Shayera Thal has posed:
Shayera Thal takes a moment to make sure the prisoner is secured and does give Credit where credit is due. "You you both did good out there." Directed to both Monet and Meggan. "Hopefully we can work together again, I'll keep you both in the loop about what we can get from analysis for the flame and the prisoner, although I don't expect much from fin head." Shayera begin the process of making her way to the hall of Justice lock up.

Hal Jordan has posed:
The ship sets down with a gentle bump at last, though Green Lantern maintains that bubble of power that holds it together long enough for the last of them to depart the ship. "It almost sounds like you've done this sort of thing before," Hal says with a half-grin, rising up from the floor to hover there before starting for the nearest gapping hole leading out to that cold Metropolis afternoon. "It's a good suggestion," he agrees with a nod. "The ship is Kalanorian in design. It probably came from their homeworld, Kalanar, as well. They've turned xenophobic and isolationist in the past decade or so," he says casually. As if he knew that off the top of his head and the ring hadn't provided the exposition dump minutes earlier. "There have been no reports of them off world since then so I'd wager pretty good odds that it came from there, but doublechecking the nav computer to confirm is always a good step. Who knows, maybe the central computer core has something about the Flame and the Third Eye of theirs. Or at least a religious text. Something."

Stranger things have happened.