7113/Shi'ar: We Come in Peace, Part II

Shi'ar: We Come in Peace, Part II
Date of Scene:	28 July 2021
Location:	Hall of Justice - Watchtower
Synopsis:	Diplomacy breaks down over the value of life, and the Justicue League comes to blows with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. The battle sprawls across the moon and space, almost threatening to destroy the former as Kryptonians and Strontians trade mountain-cracking blows. In the end, Superman calls a retreat, and with the aid of the Brotherhood, the Justice League regroups on Asteroid M rather than seeing the Watchtower or the whole moon destroyed. Now both sides lick their wounds, the Leage looking to reclaim their home and drive off these invaders, while the Shi'ar begin their hunt for the Phoenix.
Cast of Characters:	Jean Grey, Hyperion, Clarice Ferguson, Clark Kent, Raven Darkholme, Karen Starr, Diana Prince, Carol Danvers, Hal Jordan, Maxima, Donna Troy, John Stewart

---

Jean Grey has posed:
Last Issue...

After warnings from various observatories, a fleet of alien ships made its approach toward the inner solar system and ultimately, Earth. Met in high orbit by the Justice League and various allies, along with a small NASA/SWORD observation craft and an Almaracian vessel under command of Maxima, the aliens announced their good intentions on an open broadcast: they came in peace!

They also came with a lot of guns, and their so-called Imperial Guard, a group of their own super-beings.

With this powerful show of gunboat diplomacy on the intergalactic scale, they explained their mission. They were here not only to greet Earth, a planet of great promise and accomplishment, a dawning power on the galactic stage, but to destroy a dangerous entity which they call the Phal'con -- as well as arrest a fleeing traitor to their own royal family, Princess Lilandra Neramani supposedly an ally to this being.

As it turned out, Lilandra was hiding on the Milano, the vessel of the Guardians of the Galaxy, which was parked behind the moon. From onboard, Rocket warned the Justice League of Lilandra's own message, before she was teleported down to Earth with the help of the Titan Terry O'Neil: that her brother, the Shi'ar Emperor, was definitely up to no good in Earth's neighborhood.

---

Superman, speaking for the League, had agreed to meet with the Shi'ar Ambassador, Davan Shakari. As no Earth government could claim jurisdiction and with concerns for security on the planet, the League's moonbase, the Watchtower, was chosen as the site for this momentous meeting.
Shakari arrives with just a handful of aides. They wear uniforms, or in his case flowing robes (red now), but no apparent weapons. A woman with him, with a white feathered crest, wears blue.

Diplomacy is a fragile thing, yet their demands at the negotiating table seem to leave little room for alternatives. "Admittedly, it confuses me why there should be any debate here at all, any hesitation," Shakari continues. "The Phal'kon -- some of your kind have taken to calling it the Phoenix -- is a monstrous entity, a destroyer of worlds. We can provide ample data regarding the destruction it has wrought. Why refuse our aid? And as for Lilandra, surely you must agree that Earth, if it is to participate in galactic affairs, must abide by concepts such as the extradition of criminals. Yet we already have data showing she has been secreted to the surface."

Hyperion has posed:
    Hanging a bit back in the flanks, Hyperion would love to tell these guys what he thinks of their high-handed assumption that they could just come here and take one of Earth's people because they claim she is dangerous. But... *sigh*.. diplomacy.

    Instead, he just stands off to the side, arms folded over his chest as he observes. It is not like he needs to listen in very hard. Hyper-senses work quite well for being aware of what is being said all the way over there. But yeah. He's not a spokesperson. When it boils down to it, he feels more like an interloper than a native anyway since he is not even from this -reality-. Another reason for keeping his trap shut, and his eyes and ears open. Yep.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Just before the arrival of the Shi'ar delegation, a tear in reality opens in the Watchtower - tinged with purple energy at this edges, and showing a brief glimpse of gleaming metal corridors beyond. It's a short step for Clarice, with her bright magenta colored skin, and characteristic green dress to step through, accompanied by her blue-skinned and red-haired boss. The portal blinks out in an instant and Clarice (AKA Blink) gestures with open, empty hands to show their peaceful intentions. She's content to linger at the outskirts of the gathering forces of the people's of Earth, her gaze taking in each individual as she silently reviews what she knows of their capabilities, before moving on to the next. Finally her gaze returns to Mystique, as she offers a quiet exhilation of air, and a shake of her head. She's... well, impressed. Perhaps even unnerved. She's never seen this much firepower gathered in one place before.

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman has just gotten off a fifteen minute phone call with American president Lex Luthor about his decision to handle the initial diplomatic talks with the not at all invading Shi'ar. It went how people with healthy imaginations can probably guess, and has colored Clark's mood for this engagement.

Weird, he thinks, seeing the lights dance off of the Shi'ar elite armor. Kind of pretty.

"Oh, are we skipping the canapes?" Superman asks, putting on a big midwester grin as he sits down on his cool seat with his logo painted on it. "Please, sit down, let's at lest get some drinks in us before we all start exchanging unpleasentries. There's this cocktail they make on Paradise Island, it's like this fizzy honey, I really can recommend it."

"Some details, would be nice." Superman adds, leaning back in his seat like a throne. This is unconscious, but is the sort of thing that sometimes leads to galactic tyrants being obsessed with out-punching him. He talks to you all like you're coming into his house for late night beers. "Because, since you mentioned it, we did get a conflicting story on the legitimacy issue."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
With no intentions of drawing any more attention to herself than needed, Mystique emerges through the portal to stand beside Blink. She is wearing her usual white body suit and boots, her hands are offered out and she turns once to reveal no weapons on her person, other wise she remains at the edges of this large meeting. Admittedly, the Shi'ar looked impressive, and she had seen their ships outside from an entirely different view, but she was present to represent the Mutants, all of them on the planet below, which unfortunately included the one they were after... not that she would say that, or even think it for that matter. Not knowing what these Shi'ar could do, her trained mind shields were already up before she stepped through the portal.

If she is shaken by the sight of all these super human beings and aliens, it doesn't show. Her face remains a neutral mask, her yellow eyes taking in each face present, offering a nod, but she stays silent.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Whomsoever keeps inviting Power Girl to these things is probably due for a League Courtmartial. So far, she's been silent- and yet throughout the whole proceeding, there's been an evergrowing font of distaste for it all. Her arms are folded, and her scowl is perhaps the worst example of a pokerface in the room. At no point has she been happy about /any/ of this.

    It all comes to a head when the person handling diplomatic relations from the opposite side asks why they're even arguing, and Karen can't help but rebut.

    "Because there's always debate about things like this. You want us to hand over something that you say is dangerous- you /say/ you can provide us with proof, but you /haven't/, and you /pretend/ that if someone came to your house and made any demands of you, that you'd acquiesce when I can tell by your /attitude/ that you'd laugh them out of the room." she chides, "Further, while I applaud your understanding of the concept of extradition, I have yet to meet anything that would call itself a Space Empire that doesn't have a pretty terrible idea of what individual rights a living being ought to have. The /last/ interstellar princess I helped out got tossed off of her homeworld for disagreeing with something as grossly archaic as an arranged marriage, and I'm relatively certain that forces from her homeworld are eventually going to extradite her for some sort of blood-treason in the near future."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is standing to one side amongst her people and her eyes are upon those of the guests to the station. She's observing and listening to the back and forht, but thus far has remained out of the covnersation herself. She's in her full Themysciran regalia with a dark blue cloak worn over her armor, lined with a golden trim. She is watching the delegates of the Shi'ar with an intense stare, but has yet to speak up herself.

Carol Danvers has posed:
It just keeps raining this week.

Honestly Carol is not having a good week on the whole alien front and she is pretty surly about it all. Though she keeps it pretty tight to her chest.

She would have noted on League channels tacking onto Rocket's relay of Lilandra's message that she is very skeptical they come in peace, not sure Shi'ar battle fleets even do that. That she knows whom the runaway princess is with though if it becomes useful for Earth to sort it out though. Yes she doesn't say whom she is with. Also that she will be showing up for the meeting as SWORD and a League members, dual hats. That said she probably can't stay past the end of the week, there is actually a bigger problem right now in the galaxy but we need to be really on guard with the Shi'ar.

Right now Carol is wearing a slightly different version of her Captain Marvel outfit though, it has the SWORD insignia on it's left breast and is grey and black. To the Shi'ar it probably looks a bit like a Kree Uniform though.

For the moment though she is leaning against one of the walls just watching. At least until they talk about the Pheonix. "Also the Phal'kon is a bit Shi'ar bogeyman as far as most people are concerned. There are some reports otherwise but...." a light shrug. "We would need evidence it is actually here and as much a risk as you all say."

A glance to Powergirl. "Also what she said."

Hal Jordan has posed:
    Hal has not been seen on Earth for some time now, but shortly before the meeting is scheduled, a green flash appears in the starfield as something exits superluminal flight. A green mote can be seen approaching the Watchtower, resolving itself into the form of Earth's Green Lantern. He approaches the airlock and cycles through, heading immediately for the Hall of Justice.

    Looking around as he enters, he nods to himself as he sees the crowd gathered here. He moves over to his seat near Clark and Diana, offering a nod to them as he does so. Since Clark seems to be taking the lead, he stays quiet for now.

Maxima has posed:
Maxima, well one of them because there's another one still on the command deck of the Almeracian Imperial Starship facing off with the Shi'ar above the Watchtower, stands not far from Clark with her arms crossed. She hasn't liked this ambassador since the moment she laid eyes on him and she knows gunboat diplomacy when she sees it. Still, she is doing her best not to start a war unless Earth chooses one. The Almeracians possibly going to war with the Shi'ar later is another matter for another time.

Maxima sideeyes in Karen's direction when she starts talking about the 'last interstellar princess' because she's standing right here. "You're not going to win them over like this. You're just going to provoke a fight." Helpful advice, but something in Maxima's expression, a small smirk perhaps suggests she would /relish/ that option.

Jean Grey has posed:
Tasked with providing proof, Shakari gestures, and one of his aides provides:

The man steps forward and touches his wrist, causing a holographic display to appear in the air. Apparently they've brough their own projection equipment and don't need any kind of Watchtower hook-in, although simultaneously, the computers will register a significant databurst sent from one of the ships. The data will include significant historical accounts from 400 years prior, when the Imperial Guard defeated a rampaging version of the Phoenix entity who had possessed a local named Rook'shir. The visual display is more graphic, going one-by-one through various solar systems, showing 'before' and 'after' states: the afters showing their suns simply /gone/ in some cases, in others reduced to fairly small black holes, and the systems turned into debris fields... or sucked into the singularities. The most recent is not in Shi'ar space, but is dated some 6 years prior. On that particular account, there is more data, the last of it an image showing a gathering of a number of humans aboard what must be a small Shi'ar craft, possibly in a medical bay.

"You can confirm it via your own sources, presuming you have such? Or the ability to scan at such a distance." Shakari glances over at the display. "The last incident involved several individuals from your planet. Perhaps you can identify them from the footage, that is not really our concern. Although that one," and he pauses briefly to indicate a redheaded woman. "Is known to be the host."

Having said all this, he folds his arms. "Is this satisfactory?" And then finally, he seems to take note of Hal's arrival, in all his green glowing regalia. "You there. Access the Oan database. I should think that would be sufficient proof."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Troia is standing alongside Diana, similarly accoutred in full Themysciran regalia, her armor a little more monochrome than Diana and her cloak purple rather than blue, but other than that they're certainly looking fairly similar. To each other that is - the Themysciran party is looking distinctly different from the rest of the human contingent at this meeting.

    Not just looking different - they talk amongst themselves in hushed Themysciran, and are keeping themselves just a little apart from the rest, and have so far not involved themselves directly in the talks. It should be clear to the rest of the humans here, at least, that this is an intentional ploy - they are presenting themselves more as an interested party than as just two more bodies in the human contingent to the meeting. There are already Lanterns and Almeracians and possibly-Kree present, why not make one more x-factor for the Shi'ar to contemplate?

Hyperion has posed:
    "And this is the fault of the power this person wielded... not of the person themselves?" asks Hyperion, unable to hold his tongue any longer. "How can you be certain that the desire to destroy was not within this.. Rook'shir already?"

    And.. then he clamps his mouth shut. Then he shakes his head and goes back into passive mode to be on the sidelines now. Support, not the front lines.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique knows everyone in those images, including the red head, but she still says nothing. These were her people, she knew their faces as well as she knew her own... which is saying a lot for someone who can change their face. She didn't like the idea of these people deciding the fate of one of her own people, even if that person didn't like or trust her, she would still go to bad for her and die trying to defend her if needed. Mutants stuck together.

Glancing to Clarice for a moment, she wondered what she was thinking about all this, but her amber eyes shift back to the images flashing by. How could these aliens blame the current holder of Phoenix for what happened four hundred years ago? That's just insane, but her knowledge of the Phoenix was limited, just enough to know it was dangerous but controlled at the moment and that there was no way it was going to these aliens.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    After her initial reaction, Clarice had put her own walls into place, her expression as placid mask - at least as much as she can manage. She likewise recognizes the images of the humans displayed as people she's spent time with - and she has no intention of betraying a single one of them. She remains silent for the moment, shooting a glance towards Mystique - trusting the other mutant to take the lead when it comes to representing their interests at the meeting.
    But she is not liking these Shi'ar one bit.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "You're going to have to pardon me when I don't give a rat's ass what the Oans think." Ah yes, that's right, they're not her favorite people. Let it be known that Karen hasn't backed down in the face of impossible power before, and isn't going to do so now. "Congratulations, you've shown us footage of what the entity is capable of. I have for you exactly two claps," she pauses, clapping exactly twice, before continuing, "and an invitation to actually /prove/ what /happened./ All you've shown us is that there's capacity for destruction, nothing else- this doesn't tell us /why/ these things happened, just /what/ happened. As far as proof is concerned, you've shown us the gun is loaded, and the fact that you haven't offered anything about why it was fired is particularly telling."

    Her frown deepens, and her eyes never leave the- at this point opposing- diplomat. "You're asking us to hand over what as far as we know is not even remotely anything other than a girl that wants to do her best, possessed by an entity with the capacity for untold destruction, and expect us to be totally okay with taking your word for it that it has nothing to do with a grudge or want to use the entity as a weapon, and then questioning why we would be cautious about handing a /person/ over to you, as well as having absolutely nothing to say about the fact that the /act/ of restraining and capturing this /person/ would be plausibly catastrophic, when it may be a matter that is best left alone."

Clark Kent has posed:
Superman does sort of a double take when the less personable half of the Brotherood of Evil Mutants shows up in his secret moonbase, impressionable toddler in tow. That's the gist of the look Clark gives the pair; as if John Wayne Gacey showed up in a trans-am driven by a #twelve year old.

"Seriously Mystique." Clark says, "If you're here to try and use our giant laser to melt the ice caps because Magneto thinks it'll up the mutant birth rate can it wait? Like I don't know why you guys can't schedule these things. The Key never shows up like this." This is a lie, the Key has absolutely shown up to drug everyone out of their eyeballs during at least two important League summits.

Superman briefly regrets snapping during a diplomatic conference but was just utterly taken aback, and also had to talk to Lex Luthor cordially for fifteen minutes today. He shrugs because she is here and they are not shooting at each other and that's life right now, he guesses. There are sun eating bird monsters to worry about.

The Ambassador lays out facts. Superman frowns, crosses his arms, and looks to Hal for confirmation. "Kid doesn't look like she's eating any planets. Looks like she's defending herself, to me."

"What exactly are you going to do with the girl?"

Carol Danvers has posed:
When the data burst and holo-display springs to life, Carol lifts her hand and captures a copy of it all. Moments later a holodisplay springs to life in front of her and she starts to peruse the information not just the footage.

She is pointedly ignoring Mystique and Clarice for the moment honestly. She has no idea why the hell they were invited or maybe not based on Clark's reaction.

There are honestly way bigger issues and it would look bad in front of the Shi'ar.

"Great." is all Carol mutters softly as she looks through the data. She had originally thought this was a political problem with Lilandra.... but it is becoming much worse.

She quietly starts cross checking the locations of the stars and wiped out systems with the Kree Databases, tasking an automated function to it. One by one the systems come up confirmed. They gone.

She sends a message to those in League comms only. <<They aren't lying about the destructive path of the entity.>>

She isn't bothering to confirm the identity of the person or people in the video though despite knowing all of them. She also doesn't provide data on what happened with the whole business with the Brood. No one liked them anyways.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes sweep away from the delegates long enough to see Hal arriving. His arrival, in fact, gets a honest soft smile from the Princess along with a gentle nod in his direction,-- she's happy to see him back, and at an opportune moment no less.

Diana looks back to the conversing taking place before she leans over to whisper something in Themysciran to Donna. Her eyes go to her sister then for a second after her words are spoken before they go back to the Shi'ar.

Jean Grey has posed:
"We believe the hosts are chosen for certain inborn abilities, genetic factors. This woman is is no doubt like those gathered here; a deviation from the species baseline, an evolutionary improvement," Shakari answers Hyperion, somewhat blandly. "But the idea that these individuals could control it is preposterous. Rook'shir was not a criminal. But the entity is absolute destructive power. I believe, in scanning databases on your world, you have a saying for what absolute power does to people. That principle applies here."

As he continues to explain, it becomes obvious that the Ambassador is growing a little... well, impatient with it. "These facts are not under debate. The only question is what stance your planet takes in this: joining with galactic society in acting against a threat of cosmic significance, continuing your path toward greater presence in the universe you inhabit..."

... or in favor of the traitor Lilandra, who has conspired with the host entity and its allies, to hide and protect it."

At length, he turns to Superman, who by his own manner he seems to acknowledge as a leader of the group, although he spares a look toward Karen and then back. "Understand that we have witnessed this cycle play out over the centuries. No matter what is in the heart of the individual, whatever their best intention, they eventually are consumed by destructive impulse. And the entity does not let go, once it has a host. Though it remains to be seen if she can be contained here for transport, eventually, one way or another- she will be destroyed."

Hal Jordan has posed:
    Hal seems to go blank for a few seconds as he accesses the Oan database. He then looks over to the Ambassador and says, "It can be destructive, this is true. However it is also a force of rebirth. And I have to wonder, if you see it as so destructive and dangerous, why would you want it brought back to your Empire? I would think having it far away would be preferred."

    He adds, "And as far as extradition, that would usually be part of a treaty, not something you can just expect when you show up at a planet you've never visited before. Not to mention, that involves a completely separate person. So you're actually asking us to hand over two people, of whom at least one is host to a massively powerful entity because you say so.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Not so much as a flinch or blink in reaction is offered. Mystique doesn't give a single rats butt what Superman thinks her reasons for being here are, she doesn't even look at him. If this weren't something seriously important, she would offer him some sort of response, but this is far too important to get into a squabbling match over why she choose to show up to a secret base that pretty much everyone in the world knew about.

Her expression doesn't change, not shift at all, her eyes however move to the Shi'ar ambassador when Superman asks what their plans are for the girl... woman, she's a woman, not a girl. Truth be told the alien could say they were going to throw her her very own quinceanera and that still wouldn't mean she'd let them just hand the Mutant over. Whatever fate might lie in wait for Jean with this thing inside her, that was up to Jean not these aliens.

Hyperion has posed:
    Eyes narrowing, and then changing color just a bit as his bile and anger rises, Hyperion repeats the mantra... control is key. Control is key... until he manages to persevere over his temper and fight it down. For now, he holds his hackles at bay and takes a deeeeeeep breath, nostrils flaring from the effort of -not- starting a fight here and now.

    But he has taken a half step forward... something that he doesn't even realize consciously. So that is when he slowly and carefully moves back to where he was before. Stupid aliens. Stupid threats against his new world... stupid birdbrains. Okay, that thought actually makes him smile... which gives him back the full control he so desperately needs.

John Stewart has posed:
Another who hasn't been seen for a while on Earth comes out of a wormhole at the edge of the solar system. Hal gets a signal of acknowledgement on his ring as John Stewart hails him from the outer solar system, and the mental voice of John comes to the other Green Lantern, <<I only know what I'm getting from the ring. Do you need backup over there? That fleet is a bit worrying>>

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice frowns at Clark and though she doesn't offer a verbal response to his taunting, she does give a small shake of her head. They weren't here for such petty nonsense. They were here to protect their world, and its mutant population. Her gaze flicks to Mystique at the woman's continued silence - and she tightens her jaw in frustration at all the bickering back-and-forths in the room. Leaning in towards the blue-skinned woman she asks in a low murmur, "Shouldn't we at least offer what we know about why that world was destroyed...?" she asks.
    She doesn't mean it to carry past her and Mystique, but she knows with the number of people with super hearing in the room - someone will overhear the remark. What can you do?

Clark Kent has posed:
Wiping out the Brood is?

A lot. Even if no one liked the Brood, it's a whole species. Clark can see the logic here, and if the Shi'ar didn't come out of the gate lying to him about Llandria today could go a lot differently. A JLA vs X-Men crossover would sell millions.

Whatever Clark's mixed feelings about the Oans, it's good to have both senior Green Lanterns having his back. "I think I'd like to hear the 'traitor's side of the story before anything." Clark says, carefully. "I appreciate the danger of the situation, but she's not consumed by rage NOW. I'm not letting you kill anyone until we've fully pursued other options. We have a number of resources on this world I feel you're overlooking. If there's a peaceful solution to this crisis that doesn't leave anyone else dead, shouldn't we try?"

Maxima has posed:
Maxima's eyes move to two particular individuals in the Shi'ar contingent, one and then the other. "You should be aware." She says to Clark. "They've brought two individuals capable of reading the thoughts of others." There is no attempt to be subtle about it. The Almeracians are known for their psychic powers and it makes sense the Shi'ar might come prepared, but she wants to make sure everyone else knows the situation as well.

After that she falls silent again, letting Earth and its self-professed alien immigrants sort this out. She can be seen sizing up the Shi'ar contingent though, perhaps contemplating just how she would destroy each one if, who are we kidding, when violence breaks out.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Troia nods her head in agreement at Diana, and frowns, before replying to her in whispered Themysciran, <<It makes me wonder what exactly they are trying to achieve here...>>

    Taking a short step forwards, she speaks up in English. "Ambassador Shakari, you speak of extradition. A reasonable diplomatic request. You will I am sure understand that bringing a battle fleet with you on such a diplomatic expedition causes some concern amongst the rather excitable people of Earth. Within just the last planetary orbit, Earth has had to defeat attempted assaults by Brainiac and Warworld."

    "Earth is a... complicated place. More complicated than you likely realize. In general those non-Human powers who have a vested interest in this world such as Asgard and Olympus consider it wisest to keep direct intervention to a minimum unless absolutely necessary. On a similar principle I believe you would find the reactions of humankind and their allies to your request for extradition to be calmer were you to reduce your military presence in this system. A gesture of trust may be reciprocated as easily as a gesture of hostility."

Karen Starr has posed:
    The glance her way finds an impassive mass of muscle capable of hurling planets. To say that Karen is tired of other species finding no threat in Kryptonians enough to talk to them on at least even footing is... Probably a massive understatement. For the record, Karen usually skips the 'tired of' step and jumps straight to 'furious.' Diplomacy is supposed to be a give and take- Karen knows this. So far, it's all been an expectation that they'll give so that the Shi'Ar can take.

    "He's right. We don't punish based on possibility here, we punish based on /actions./ So far, you've only shown us /potential./ Frankly, I don't care about potential, I care about how it's used, and if you think we're defenseless against this entity, you're dead wrong. With all the bull you've tried to feed us so far, I'm inclined to ask of the powers that be that you get /nothing/ but a polite request to leave and never come back."

    Karen, frankly, is waiting for the 'kill them and take it' that always seems to come at the end of meetings like this, a foregone conclusion that Power Girl absolutely /never/ contributes to herself, for sure.

Jean Grey has posed:
Hal's words seem well placed, the Shi'ar representatives having gone on about their laws at some length. "Indeed. And would be willing to offer various concessions in the establishment of such a treaty, aid to your planet, things which would help jump you forward in your progress. As partners of the Shi'ar Imperium, you would enjoy a place of high esteem, and gain powerful allies who could help keep your world safe. However, you must also understand that the issue of the Phal'kon is considered a security matter of the highest priority."

The implications of which hang unspoken.

Ultimately, it comes not just to Clark's decision, but what seems an emerging consensus among the entirety of those present. Their will is heard. And Shakari answers: "I appreciate your position."

Then, as the phrase goes, all hell breaks loose.

---

As if poised upon some signal, upon the decision in that moment, the Shi'ar immediately go into action. The Watchtower's sensors quickly begin sounding alarms, identifying that the three large cruisers in orbit have all began moving again, toward the planet from their more distant orbits.

Simultaneously, there's an even more concerning set of alarms: intruder alerts, registering unauthorized presences on almost every level, in every area of the Watchtower, even those supposedly the most secure. The 'how' of it is answered rather plainly, as a brilliant lightshow of sparkling energy plays out behind him, and a dozen-odd members of the Imperial Guard are transported directly into the room behind him.

"Respectfully, the threat is too great. In the name of D'Ken Neramani, Majestor Shi'ar, we declare protective intervention in this system until such a time as the threat is considered neutralized."

And answering some questions about an earlier oddity is what happens to Shakari as he speaks: energy cascades over his form, layering protective armor over his diplomatic ensemble. In this case, it is not being transported, but rather holographically projected, with the same hard-light technology that powers the X-Men's Danger Rooms. A Shi'ar gift, in that case. In his? The gesture seems less generous.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol looks up from her holo-screen though when Maxima says they brought individuals who can read minds. That is such an extreme pet peeve of Carol's there is a flash of cosmic energy in her eyes before she manages to take a slow breath.

She is still staring right at the Shi'ar her eyes narrowing as they continue to talk. The sheath of cosmic energy actually returns and she is moving even as all of the alarms go off like she had an idea what was about to happen.

Just unfortunately not enough of a warning because fate is fickle and it could go so many ways.

Still she postioning herself much closer to Shakari and right on the end of his statement she says firmly. "This will not end the way you think it will end Ambassador. The Shi'ar overstep and this will only end badly. You need to back this down immediately."

She is absolutely letting her cosmic signature leak now letting any and all of them have at least an inkling of what she is capable of.

God she has no time for this right now.

Still she throws no punches.

Hyperion has posed:
    Narrowing his eyes, Hyperion shakes his head. He wishes he had just let loose earlier. However... these aliens needed to be given the chance to see reason. A chance that they have squandered here. He accelerates himself to hyper-speed levels... on a molecular level at least. His entire plan has devolved into... if someone attacks one of the more squishy Earthers, that he'll intervene to protect them by becoming an Eternal Shield. He isn't moving yet... But he -is- ready to move.... the raw cosmic energy absorbed by his body... roiling on the surface here, in his eyes, etc.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes follow her sister as she steps forward to speak, she lowers her chin ever so slightly after what Donna says, but the following events confirm what she'd spoken softly about moments earlier.

They'd already made up their minds...

Diana now steps forward too. With the guards arriving, the enemy ships coming, the Princess exhales and shakes her head. "This is a terrible mistake." She speaks to the Shi'ar delegation. "We all understand that you have your motivations and desires in this endeavor, but we are more than meets the eye to your people. I promise you that."

Her shining bracer encased forearms come out from within her dark blue robe, parting it and showing off her armored form. Her fists are clenched inside of their leather wrapps, and s sending a controled glare their way.

"Call your people off..." She warns them one last time, one more effort for peace.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The minute there is a alarm sounding, it doesn't matter from where or why, Mystique steps closer to Blink while pulling her guns from the tops of her boots. They weren't visible before, but that's the beauty of what she was, they didn't have to be when they were a part of her. It was an understatement of the century to say she was out of her league here, but that didn't mean she couldn't offer some sort of assistance.

Knowing fully what this D'Ken Neramani wanted the Phoenix for, she knew that this is how it would end, she just hadn't expected it to reach this point so quickly. The Shi'ar has no intentions of leaving without what they came for, and perhaps she should have mentioned it sooner, but she didn't want to go announcing that what they were here for was known... that was revealing too many cards at once. If she'd tried to show up earlier, it wouldn't have gone well at all, so the Justice League and friends would just have to find out about the real reasons for all this later... if they survived.

Reaching up to her ear she taps the comm in her ear, >> "Alert status, shit's going red, warn our allies they're coming. <<

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Hades," Donna mutters as she draws out her lasso. "Wouldn't it be nice if just once, some aliens considering an invasion would say to themselves, you know, after the Alien Alliance invasion, the Brood invasion, the Frost Giant invasion, the Braniac invasion, the Warzoon invasion... maybe this isn't such a good idea? Just... /once/?"

    She steps up to stand beside Diana, her lasso starting to glow gold in her hands. "This planet is already under protection," she adds. "Your intervention is unwarranted and counter-productive to your chances of achieving what you claim to want. You would be well advised to start de-escalating this situation before it gets out of control."

Hal Jordan has posed:
    With a sigh, Hal stands, green light sheathing his form protectively as he does. "I had a feeling this would happen. Oh well, here we go."

    <<John, everything just went to hell here, see what you can do about those ships, the Watchtower's been invaded.>>

    "The Shi'ar have no claim here, you need to stop this before it goes too far. You will not win this fight." A green halo surrounds his ring hand as he prepares for the coming battle.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Faster even than the League's alarm systems can detect the intruders, Karen starts forward- having heard the barest hints of their materialization within the watchtower, and reacting within that very same picosecond. For those not in the know, there really isn't that much that could possibly intimidate Power Girl. Of everyone here, she's the one person who has literally survived the absolute annihilation of a universe. She's punched the unpunchable. Broken the unbreakable. Fought the power.

    "This is the absolute biggest mistake of your life, and if you don't stand down, I want you to understand that you will become the absolute laughing stock of the entire celestial order, because you brought your biggest guns to a backwater planet that can barely touch the edge of its own system and you're about to be sent packing with your tail between your legs. This is your absolute last chance to spare your people a fight they can't possibly win."

John Stewart has posed:
On the outer edge of the system, a new wormhole forms... and the other end is placed just outside Earth orbit, <<On it. I don't have access to your moon base anyway>>

John flits through the wormhole, and out the other end, and he starts moving at high speed towards the Shi'ar Cruisers. The cruisers get a hail from the Lantern ring, "This is John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps. Earth is under our protection and I've had it with your shit."

Then, without warning, John aims HIMSELF right at one of the cruisers, stopping precisely just out of where the shield would harm him, and he starts flying all around the cruiser, scanning for a weak point in the shield to try to overpower it.... and once he does so, he constructs a minigun and starts firing Oan Green energy into it as he tries to penetrate into the cruiser itself.

Maxima has posed:
Maxima barks out a laugh, eyes dancing with the possibility of worthy opponents. It has been so long, at least a month or two, since she had a good fight. Warring is what the Warrior caste love best after all. "So predictable, I'm going to enjoy this."

Subtle telekinetic energy begins to spread through the room as she begins tracking where every moving figure. "In accordance with the debt owed by Almerac to Earth through the actions of Scott Lang, we will be intervening on Earth's behalf in this conflict. Come and die deaths befitting warriors if that is your choice."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice doesn't attack either - but like her mentor, she does what comes natural to her, she arms herself. With a faint, brief aura of purple energy, shimmering silver projectiles appear in her hands - about a foot long, with slightly fattened centers, and thin, tapered points at each end. She holds them at the ready, a determined expression on her features as she allows the others to speak.
    The planet earth won't simply roll over.
    She starts considering her targets, a cold, speculative look on her features.

Clark Kent has posed:
A quick x-ray scan confirms the entire base is at risk. Clark turns his head to the other heavies. "We need the core secured. If they blow the base it could damage the moon, endanger the entire planet. Quickly!"

"Not so fast, Super-Criminals!" A hauntingly familiar voice rings out. Superman actually puts his palm over his face, visibly perturbed.

Out of the flash of teleporting soldiers steps a six foot four grey skinned muscle man who's ripped the sleeves off of an Imperial Guard uniform. He's wearing a faux hawk, a biker mustache, and holding a heavy meathook attached to a chain that he's swinging with practiced menace. There is no getting around it: Lobo is here. "Well if it ain't the JLAssholes deciding they know what's best fer the universe again. Har har, I told my old buddy D'Ken there ain't no point diplomancing earthers! You all think the same: whoever's got the biggest cape gets to make the rules. Me, I can appreciate that kind of bare knuckle barbarism, but my new, legit friends in the Shi'ar Empire, they think they can handle this all like a day at secondary school. I was telling my other new pal about this all..."

Something grows off of Lobo's wrist, purple and jelly like in appearance. It expands, growing human-like eyeballs and a floating, naked skull in what is otherwise a mass of protoplasm. The Kryptonians and other energy-absorbers in the room will feel a faint tingle, as though something was messing with their connection to the sun or other primal power source. Spines grow out of the horror's head, and Superman takes a step back in horror.

"Dekken. Eric Dekken." Superman says, "I...don't know which of you to warn the other about. You can't trust the Evolver, Lobo!"

"An' he can't trust the Main Man, and neither of us now-legit space police can trust ol'D'ken. That's capitalism, baby." Lobo laughs, long and cruel, and Power Girl starts talking. Dekken's protoplasmic mass jiggles with recognition, but Lobo holds his hook up. "Hey, baby, you're like Rule 63 Boy Scout, right? From a dimension where back pain is a problem for lesser mortals or whatever. You ever try a Benjamin Franklin before?" Lobo moves so quickly even super-speed aided vision sees him as a blur, as he sends a brutal kidney punch right at Karen. "It starts like this, honey..."

The Evolver, free of any supervision, looks directly at the two Mutants on board. Mystique, Blink, for a second this hideous creature seems to be looking so deep at you...it's difficult to describe. As though it were reading your DNA.

"...not bach..." The thing evolves a set of vocal chords to abuse, and starts moving towards the pair of you, "...like jazz..."

Superman is torn between which of his enemies to intercept. In the punching business, Gladiator, we call this 'an opening'.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Empty Kree threats," Shakari replies to Carol. The obviously fake, and yet still so very carefully maintained politeness of his manner is utterly forgotten in that moment, turning toward pure, raw contempt. There is bad blood between the great Empires.

And even standing near face to face with her, no doubt knowing a fair bit of what the woman can do for all the intelligence the Shi'ar seem to have, he doesn't seem cowed, brave in his strange red armor. He doesn't take a swing, but instead, stares her dead on. And in that moment, she meets not a physical assault, but a mental one, his eyes glowing -- although it is unclear if this is a wholly natural effect or some product of his holographic shroud -- as some unknown force enters her mind, the dominance of the Imperium made palpable in her thoughts.

Clearly, none of the demands for the enemy to stand down are heaving any effect. And when their foes are kind enough not to take the first punch, the invaders are glad to do so:

Behind Shakari, at the center of the guard formation springs into action, and clearly they've been briefed on what they're up against. At their center, Gladiator, the purple skinned, mohawked Praetor of the Imperial Guard launches directly for Superman, at a speed every bit equal to his own best. "There is no dishonor in surrender here, in yielding your principles. I took no pleasure in killing Rook'shir, but it was what needed to be done."

Yet he never connects, the full power of his charge hitting one of Clark's allies.

Moving beside him is... another alien of similar coloration, though she is bald rather than mohawked. They brought a Gal Gladiator! (Not actually her name) She flies at Karen, equally fast, smirking, in contrast to her cousin's stoic demeanor. "Big talk. But normally, that's kind of my thing."

The third to step into action is another with blue-purpleish skin and dark hair, although his is much less punk rock. He's headed for Hyperion at first, and -everyone- in the room can feel his presence, how he seems to pull them all toward him, a bubble of strange gravity in their midst

Behind them is a man in a white uniform with fairly obvious large red glasses. He's left watching as his 3 top-tier teamates hit the action with such extreme eagerness and kind of looks confused, reaching to scratch the side of his head. "Hey guys wait up, they took the- OK, which one is mine again?"

The rest of the group kind of moves in formation. There's a variety of them, a woman with a whip, another who is unarmed. A feral looking fellow with a necklace of bones and teeth. Another looks like a 'plain' old Shi'ar, black feathers and in uniform, although he moves swiftly adn starts to crackle with energy. This squadron more or less kind of angles toward Diana and Donna.

The woman next to Shakari lifts her arms, and her feathered cloak with them... and vanishes.

---

Outside, John engages the fleet. The best thing is that he's small, making himself a difficult target for their bigger guns, although they light up the empty void around him with a barrage of smaller fire as his glowing green minigun pummels their shield. It's doing damage, but there's no easy shortcut - the shields hold, for now, an officer on their bridge no doubt dutifully listing off percentages as they slowly fall.

John's got that too: << Battery at 97% >>

Hyperion has posed:
    And everything starts ... as usual, with utter chaos causing things to be out of control before they even get going. Lobo... that is someone Hyperion has never seen or even heard of before. But the speed he's moving with cannot be denied. A blur even to senses that have already been sped up a hundred-fold.

    And then there is another movement at ludicrous speed. Hyperion's eyes track the movement of Gladiator as he becomes a streak of red and purple. Moving unerringly towards Superman. A man who Hyperion has come to respect as a teacher and mentor. Nope. That is a big fat nope.

    His eyes flicker towards Superman, and catch the man's momentary distracted state... just the blink of an eye. An eternity when enemies are using super speed to launch attacks. And so....

    Hyperion himself turns into a blur of motion. Black and gold in a streak. Indeed, pushing himself harder than he ever has before. Moving faster than he even knew he could... when Gladiator's fist strikes towards Superman, it hits Hyperion right in the jaw... sending him careening out of control where he slams into a bulkhead and leaves a Hyperion sized impression in it. If this were a cartoon, he would have birds dancing around his head. But the amazing thing for most is that he's actually alive... briefly stunned, but alive and conscious. Gladiator having expended the power for that attack and hopefully now standing before a fully -prepared- Superman.

    "Ow." is all that comes from Hyperion.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
"Christ that thing is ugly!" Mystique exclaims about the Evolver, then without another word opens fire on it. She has no what it is, if her guns will effect it, or if she's wasting bullets but that thing just violated her with its eyes and she's not okay with that. For the moment she remains near Clarice, attempting to ensure that nothing gets in close to either of them, but this whole thing is so majorly messed up in levels of chaos that she could not even begin to fathom, and she was really, really good at chaos.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Terrestrial threats know damn well not to hit Power Girl when she's mad. Honestly, if you're operating in Metropolis, it's usually more merciful to get Clark on your tail. He has more respect for the sound barrier, and tries not to hit as hard. He has more patience. It's a thing that no version of Kara has ever managed to master.

    It hurts. God, it always hurts- but the first skill you learn in this business is how to take a punch in altogether the scariest fashion in the universe. Sure, in some amount of time, there's going to be a bit of a bruise there- but the suit's going to hide it, and as long as the sun's out, it'll never materialize. The effect, though, is staggering in how /little/ effect Karen lets show. Lobo's fist connects with her side, and she doesn't move. Instead, red light begins to form over her eyes.

    "Aw, fraggit," is all Lobo manages to retort before Karen sends him flying with twin bolts of the purest, most painful heatvision she can muster. It's enough to change the temperature of the room, and if Lobo were made of anything less than the flesh-equivalent of hardened steel, it would have burnt right through him. The most it does in this case is cause him a whole /hell/ of a lot of pain and send him towards the opposing wall.

    Karen, however, gets two dance partners, and the Ladyator tackles her well enough, sending her to the opposite side of the room. She impacts with enough force to dent the metal, but doesn't seem to be anything more than dazed at this first blow. She's angry, and they're on the moon: All restraint is gone, and should her second opponent continue on the advance, she'll meet a startlingly powerful right hook from Power Girl- the kind of blow that could level a building. It seems to come with little effort on the part of the blonde in white.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...Ugh," Clarice remarks, a disgusted look as she studies the being in front of her and Mystique. "You got him, boss?" she asks simply.
    The brightly-colored mutant doesn't really wait for a response, instead, she starts letting fly the javelins she'd summoned - one, two, three, four... Each of them charged with enough portal energy to teleport their targets away - and out into the vaccum of space. She could only hope they weren't prepared for deep space in their current attire. One javelin heads for the feral man with his necklace of bones, another for the Shi'ar crackling with energy, one sails to the space where the feather-cloaked woman had stood a moment before. Hopefully she was merely invisible. The last one goes towards the fellow with his overly large glasses.
    Clarice can only hope they hit true.

Hal Jordan has posed:
    Hal raises his hand and focuses on the one with the red glasses. Rather than forming a construct, he lashes out with a bolt of Oan energy, dialed up to the highest non-lethal level the ring will allow. Better to take one of them out before it gets to do whatever it does. Given the other things the Shi'ar brought, it's probably not something any of the folks defending Earth want to deal with coming at them. Hopefully this can be done without deaths, but given what the Shi'ar have brought, it seems unlikely.

    "You have no idea what kind of mistake you just made. So now you get to find out." He drifts up off the floor, as he's more agile flying then he can be with his feet on the ground.

Maxima has posed:
When everything explodes, so does Maxima, straight for that annoying simpering legalist Shakari. While there are some nuances, the Warrior Caste of Almeracia's legal code can be boiled down to three words, Trial by Combat and with none of the Imperial Guard getting in her way she intends to introduce him to it.

"Since you want to invoke the laws of your people, now I will adhere to the laws of mine. Try not to dissapoint me." There are so many things Maxima could try to do to him, but right now she wants nothing more than the most gratifying of attacks, the super powered punch to the face and that is exactly what she goes for, bursting forward too fast for many eyes to even track.

Meanwhile in space, the other Maxima standing on the command deck of the Almeracian Imperial Starship floating above the Watch Tower gives the command to begin tactical maneuvers and open fire on the approaching fleet. Powerful bright energy blasts and the cosmic equivalent of torpedos streak across the void of space lighting up the shields of the enemy fleet. Almerac is apparently quite serious about all of this.

Carol Danvers has posed:
And then the week gets even worse.

Hell she figured she might have to punch Gladiator or his stupid cousin. But no. They go for the Kryptonians. The big ones always go for the Kryptonians.

Which is probably when Shakari makes the worst long term mistake he will regret making in his existence. Maybe not today but. Damn.

For the moment Captain Marvel is caught eyes locked with the Shi'ar 'Ambassador' in his Red Armor. The Cerebral Lock attack is no small joke.

Little things start to happen though. Those with really good eyesight could notice how her jaw starts to clench fraction by fraction. Much more visable the cosmic golden glow in her eyes starts to brighten in intensity.

The energy around her fists starts to flare up slowly in small coronas up her arms.

Messing with Carol's mind is the easiest way to make the good Captain snap in a dramatic bloody way. Some people know that. The Entire Might of the Kree Empire and Supreme Intelligence failed to mentally dominate her. The 'Ambassador' of the Shi'ar has made an error.

She starts to lift her hand up slowly like it is through quicksand, reaching out to put it on his armored shoulder unless he acts. Maybe even then if he breaks the attack on her mind off.

Maybe Maxima punching him will save him from actually falling into Carol's grip.

Diana Prince has posed:
Witht he team coming toward she and Donna, Diana throws her arms up and casts her dark robe off her shoulders. Her stance widens and she raises her bracers of submission up to block any incomming attacks before she lunges in to the fray of enemies. Without fear she'll engag all of the ones facing down she and her Amazonian sister in this station under siege.

John Stewart has posed:
When one of the big guns seems like it might actually hit him, John flies off to one side or the other, stopping his attacks briefly... which just makes the projectile have a good chance to hit the cruiser itself. John chose this method of attack for a reason; to taunt the other cruisers into risking attacking one of their own fleet in their bid to engage him. He doesn't panick away... he keeps going.

<<I'll keep the fleet busy as long as I can. They're bunching up to attack me. I could use a distraction if one tries to position themselves for a free attack over the shield, but I got this.>>

Indeed, that minigun keeps firing. John isn't letting up until he's out of power, and he's forcing the other cruisers to manage their firing solutions (thus causing less actual attacks) or help him.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Mirroring her sister, Troia lets her cape drop to the ground and moves in to the attack on the group approaching the Amazons. Moving calmly and with little speed at first, Troia goes in low, letting Diana cover with her bracers, ducking beneath any fire heading her way - or back the other way as Diana redirects shots back to the enemy.

    When she sees a moment she whips her lasso forwards, glowing brilliant gold now, to yank one of their squad of attackers sharply off-balance and towards Diana's onrushing lunge. With a quick flick of her wrist she disengages the lasso and bursts forwards, no longer moving casually but now a blur of speed as she leads with a forarm block, letting her bracer of unbreakable Themysciran steel meet one oncoming attacker at face-height, then spinning low to curl her lasso around to entangle the legs of another.

Clark Kent has posed:
Lobo fights Kryptonians for fun. Power Girl has a rep of the berserker of the happy little super-family, but that doesn't confront him any. Oh right, he thinks, laser vision. "Fraggit!" Lobo's new uniform is RUINED and also like an inch of his flesh is burned off.

It's already regrowing as Gal Guardian, which we're calling her now sorry, slams into Karen. "Hey, how's you like my new girlfriend, Power Girl! Ha ha ha!" Lobo cat calls, lighting a cigar and looking to see who else worth his time is here. And, yes, to recover a little. "Eenie, meenie, miney..."

Dekken is less chaotic. Or at least more focused on what he wants which, in lieu of the death of Superman, is DNA to stabilize himself. Unique DNA. Mutant DNA. Mystique's bullets do nothing to the primordial ooze Dekken's changed himself into, they dissolve inside of him like tablets in acid. The javelins, however, or rather the energy they're charged with does something to the Evolver's strange internal composition. Ooze boils away, and the creature sneers at the sensation. Flesh warps, skin stretches, bone forms, and where once there was an ooze monster there's now a seven foot tall ape-monster, some missing link between humanity and the great apes. Or some species of sapient plains ape, at least.

"Need...YOU." Dekken wheezes, leaping amid the smoking ruins of the Watchtower corridor with simian agility, sending two green beams of focused x-ray energy at Blink while trying to close the distance between himself and Mystique. What could this horror want from her?!

Superman watches?

Hyperion tries. He tries so hard, and it breaks Clark's heart to see the struggle. And here he is?

"Cheap shot." Clark says to Gladiator, and the ground around the Superman starts to shudder as the Man of Steel warps his personal gravity to build up strength. "But that seems to be what your team's about. Alright, if you want a scrap that bad."

Superman swings, and the air pops. He's calling on so much strength the Watchtower itself shakes from the mere passing of his fist; glass shatters and emergency lights start screaming as the armory and trophy rooms immediately assume a Supervillain attack and start to lock down. Gladiator, however, has Clark's full, undivided attention, at least for the moment as he hits the alien nearly as hard as he possibly can.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
There is nothing more disgusting that an ooze that just won't go away, but truth be told Mystique has no clue what to do. She doesn't want to abandon Blink, but apparently she's the tasty choice for the ooze thing today and that means time for some gymnastics to get the hell away.

The guns get dropped into her boots before she finds the nearest piece of furniture to launch herself up into the air, a flip for momentum and away from that thing. She'll try to put Shi'ar, Themysciran, Kryptonian, whom ever she can manage between herself and the Evolver. Blinks portals don't work on it, surely one of these super powered people knew what the hell to do.

"Realize you don't like me, don't let that thing touch me!" She calls out as she jumps.

Jean Grey has posed:
Karen's punch connects, and Xenith's (that's Ladytor's actual name) face turns.

And then turns back. It's about what it would look like if a normal human punched another normal human. Except for the fact she's grinning like a madwoman. "Yeeeeeaaaaaah, bet you thought that was going to be the end and then you won, right? Sorry."

Though she winds up an equally devastating return haymaker, it's not actually the blow that connects, or connects first: that would be a quick, nasty jab from the other side, just under Karen's ribcage.

Smasher (that's glasses) gets attention from two directions: some sort of teleportal nonsense, and a Green Lantern shooting him. Both of these seem really bad. "Woah." And in a blur, moving as fast as the Kryptonians, he's not where he's supposed to be, dodging both and ending up beside Clarice. "Hey. What's up?" Who he then proptly tags across the jaw with a quick jab.

Which, fortunately for her, does NOT end up feeling like getting hit by a Kryptonian, and so her head doesn't explode in red mist. It's just a normal punch, albeit vaguely on the athletic end of things.

The others face different outcomes, variously: whip-lady dodges (and lashes a whip toward Donna, ropefight!), one of the lances phases right through its target, who on the far end converges on Donna with her partner. Electrodude jukes his with a quickly flickering motion. But Mr. Hairy the Dog gets tagged, and one might see him floating by the window a few moments later like a lost puppy. It doesn't look like he's suffocating, but he does look terribly lost!

Maxima aims to join the fight with Carol and Shakari, but mid-motion, it hits her: No one has payed Neutron much mind, and suddenly the force of his power is on her, and not only does her fist not quite make it all the way, but she finds herself sliding back toward him, like he was the center of a miniature black hole.

As for Shakari and Carol? He keeps pushing. And then, in her mind, a second presence joins in. This one is... it's hard to localize. Perhaps they're not even here. But a female voice joins in with Shakari's now crude, domineering tone, far calmer: "A part of you knows that they are right. What is one life for billions, trillions? Give in."

Shakari doesn't run. He and Carol are obviously having a MOMENT.

---

Outside, the space battle continues. John is about matched for a single cruiser, and the two of them trade energy ratings even as they exchange shots. The Almeracian ship now blockades the formation, although even with John handling a cruiser, it's two to one. And there? There's no fancy maneuvers here, just massive broadsides of alien weaponry, exchanged without particular restraint or mercy. The numbers aren't on the defender's side-

-until they get another bit of backup, as one of the cruisers is suddenly struck with an energy beam off from its side. Origin: a man with green skin and a cape. Earth's not his home planet, but the solar system /is/.

---

Yet things on the station are quickly getting rough. Clark gets the first hit on Gladiator with Hyperion's aid, but as with Karen, that potentially mountain-cracking blow only earns a brief flinch, and then an equal one in return. The Stronian fights rather differently than Clark, with a cold calculation born of centuries of military service. He's precise, and he's efficient, aiming quick jabs, blocks and counter punches, even as the pair move at hypersonic speeds. Inevitably, it's not just internal windows that break, but finally a bulkhead, as a charge sends them both through the wall and out into space. There's an emergency sealing procedure... but the Watchtower's fields are somewhat more limited. It can only maintain so much.

Hyperion has posed:
    To stay and join the fight.. or go save the station. Stay or go... Well, Hyperion can do both technically. Though the stay part is more of a brief .... damn. He had planned to assist Superman. But the Man of Steel can handle himself. Time to focus...

    So, into a comm he says, "Hyperion. Heading for the power core to secure it. Will deal with intruders on the way."

    The thing is, by the time he finishes saying that, he should already be almost to the core... having gone into hyper-speed to get there. He's shaking off Gladiator's punch by then, and even any bruise has healed. But the end result is... any intruders he finds on the way, will be basically drive-by-smacked hard enough to KO the staunchest warrior. His objective is to prevent the Shi'ar from taking control of that power core.

Carol Danvers has posed:
So far the fight with Carol and Shakari has been remarkably uneventful.

I mean it is a stare off evidently.

Not a dance off. Quill would be sad.

The second presence and voice in her head makes her hand hesitate and waver for a moment. The problem is... a calm know it all female identified voice basically hits the Supreme Intelligence button even harder in Carol's mind.

She clenches and then unclenches her fist and breaths in slow and deep.

Then she leans forward and closes her hand on his red energy projection shielded shoulder and grips the armor.

Those in her mind know she is pretty much homocidal right now.

Which is when she yanks hard his energy projection and starts to absorb it as rapidly as she can, probably as rapidly as they can try to reinforce it at the very least.

Maxima has posed:
"YOU WOULD DARE?!" Maxima was being so good, so restrained, but once the fighting began in earnest she had basically let herself off the chain. She wheels upon Neutron where she is being dragged anyway, "You would violate a declared Trial?!" Almeracian Honor can be a double edged sword and right now it is pointing at Neutron. If he was expecting a physical assault though he is in for a very rude surprise. Having shirked honorable combat in Maxima's mind, she no longer feels bound by them either where he is concerned.

The mental assault comes fast and vicious, a blast of telepathic rage channeled into a psychic blast, concussive at first, most would simply be knocked out, but it is repeated as she attempts to drill into his mind and destroy it.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Argh!" Clarice lets out as her head is rocked back. She tries to move with the punch, but it's hard to do when it comes with such velocity. Fucking speedsters! And at the same time, the strange, green beams strike at her. One hits, making her feel ill, and she blinks away - appear behind and just to one side of Mystique. They are out classed in this fight. Hell.
    "Get away from my boss," she growls out at the ape-like, constantly morphing and shape-shifting being. There's more emotion in that growl than one usually reserves for the defense of their 'boss' - who knows what's really feeding that anger?
    Reaching over her shoulder, she retrieves more of her javelins from the quiver at her back - she tosses one at Dekken, and as her hand is pulling back to toss a second, she attempts to judge the direction of his next, simian leap to simply open a portal in his path, hoping that laws of physics will simply propel him through it - and into the depths of space to join the feral fellow.
    After all - it's impossible to change your trajectory once you're airborne - without some form of propulsion.

John Stewart has posed:
John forms a telepathic link to the green man providing assistance and to the ship that just started firing, <<John Stewart, Green Lantern Corps. I'm trying to distract or get into this ship to disable it's power core. Any help towards that end is appreciated.>> John is to the point without any formalities as he continues to fire into that point of the cruiser.

<<I don't need to drop it's shields completely. I'm just trying to pull a wedge of it open, but they're focusing all their energy into keeping me out>> John continues, dodging and weaving as the massive salvos threaten to hit him. Sure, he can take some hits, but why would he risk it?

Hal Jordan has posed:
    Looking around the room, Hal takes what some might call a cheap shot. Since Shakari is standing so obligingly still, that's where the next attack begins.

    Forming a classic M60 type machine gun, he opens up with bullets of green energy aimed at the "Ambassador's" head. After about ten rounds are fired at the unmoving target, he tracks the gun over to Neutron and lets fly with about twenty more rounds since this enemy is apparently unengaged by any of the heroes. Given that Neutron is pulling gravity towards himself at the moment, the bullets may impact with more force than the ring imparted to them.

    Hal's not really worried about that right now. These people are attacking his base and his home, and that's not going to happen if he has anything to say about it.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen is focused on her fight with Xenith- so much so that she sees the gambit coming: Yet, such is the pace and power with which they've engaged one another that despite seeing it coming, it's hitting at a pace that Karen isn't moving yet. One to her side, and then the blow to her face- and yet, despite that her body twists and contorts with each blow, Karen isn't even remotely down. Not yet.

    That gleeful expression from Xenith remains on the other woman's features, as the world begins to slow down. Nanoseconds become minutes, and the world stretches further, as if caught in some sort of gravity well or swelling wave of molasses.

    Karen's return blows come like thunder, each one more powerful than the last- and should it connect, she'll start scaling up and up and up until she feels something break. The strikes at super-speed come by the dozen, and all in less than a second's worth of time. If Xenith isn't ready for a battle happening between moments, it'll be over all too quickly. Karen isn't some untrained berserker, swinging madly with no technique: She's learned from some of the best that her Earth had to offer, and right now, Ted Grant's training is coming in handy.

Jean Grey has posed:
Everything is a horrible brawl, chaotic and uncontrolled.

In some places, it goes well for the heroes. Otherwise, it goes poorly. But chaos is the key. As they fight, it's easy to lose track of who is where, and even who is who, and... moment by moment the feeling grows more intense, like everything is wrong and nothing can quite be trusted.

Through no fault of his own, it is Hal who discovers it first: he's smart, he takes advantage of the chaos, aiming for what seem like easy targets.

The first of his volleys, aimed at the Ambassador as he struggles with Carol...

...ends up being fired at Carol instead, who is just as unprepared for what is happening as the Ambassador himself.

The same thing happens to Maxima, as her mental attack scores a major victor and brings Neutron to his knees. Somehow, it's HER that Hal ends up shooting at. How could he make such a mistake? They were such easy, obvious targets, after all.

These blunders start happening across the field: Karen and Xenith seem well matched. Maybe the Kryptonian is a little stronger, but you could argue the Strontian's technique is superior as well. They're both so fast that almost no one can follow them.

And this, too, proves a danger. In their high-speed engagement, the other heroes are all suddenly at risk, as Karen comes through, swinging at what she thinks is Xenith, but ends up near Diana and Donna, threatening each of them with blows she could *swear* were aimed right at that purple you-know-what's smug face.

... So what gives with all of this?

The Shi'ar don't seem troubled, though. Smasher stops speeding, touches the side of his glasses, and takes another pot shot at Clarice. This time, it's Kryptonian-esque eye beams, not speed. She probably doesn't want those to hit her!

Clark Kent has posed:
IN THE CORE.

"Hey." Lobo says, looking at the 'knocked out' Shi'ar troopers and up at Hyperon. "Nice logo, shithead."

Lobo then rips a control rod out of the power core, grins unpleasantly, and chucks the thing at Hyperion like a javelin.

ON THE WATCHTOWER,

Clarice successfully figures out a way around Dekken's seeming invulnerability. The super ape is hurled out into the unforgiving hell of space! If she and Mystique look out, they'll see the shapeshifter flounder for a second before shifting into some kind of bizarre horror that can, apparently, breathe in space, but you've bought yourselves time!

MEANWHILE, IN SPACE,

Superman is punched out onto the lunar surface, as he's wailed on by Gladiator in a way that?

He fights like Zod, Clark thinks, as he's picked apart piece by piece, trying to adjust to fighting in orbit. He doesn't, Clark realizes, have to worry about breaking anyone apart in Space. The Superman's eyes glow an eerie shade of red as he catches Gladiator's fist.

Superman fights like a man who's spent his career fighting super soldiers and robots scientifically designed to kill him and demigods from alien worlds; military precision is noted and accounted for with blasts of radiation and sudden, screaming blasts of breath and good old fashioned clenches. Superman has words for Gladiator, but talking in space is problematic.

So his fist makes his argument instead, and this next punch causes a massive blast of moon dust to be visible on the planet below. Moonquake, Clark realizes a second after really, truly letting go. Oh no...

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice is still reeling from the one-two combo of the punch, and the strange green energy bolt she was hit from. She held it together long enough to protect her boss from- whatever that thing was, but she staggers towards one of the chairs - her hand landing on it to hold her up. She's trying to clear her head when she spots the red energy searing her way just in time to react - a hand going up instinctively in a warding gesture that would be meaningless - if it weren't accompanied by a portal immediately opening in front of her. The red bolts fly into the portal - and out the exit portal she'd put behind glasses, aimed at the back of his head.
    "Fuck you," she manages.

Hyperion has posed:
    Down into the bowels of the station, that is where Hyperion ran off to. He hated leaving comrades back their fighting for their lives. But Superman called for someone to do what he is doing... and if there is one person on this planet who Hyperion will simply obey... it is Superman.

    It is amazing however, how superspeed seems the most boring power ever. I mean to your own perspective, you are just running at normal speed for HOURS... everyone else sees a blur. But you're just running. It -does- have its perks however..

    Such as noticing the control rod, and catching it all in the space of a split second. If it's just Lobo down here however... Hyperion rushes his way and the last moment, he turns and shoves the rod back into place before using his cape to conceal his motion for just that last moment before he turns and feints a punch towards Lobo. His intent is not to punch the guy. Hitting him might knock him back into something delicate. He's not here to trade barbs with the idiot. He is here to save the reactor. And so...

    After his feint, he surges forward to try to get Lobo to strike at him.. bracing himself to suck it up. He can take one or two shots... So he braces and when he is struck, he attempts to latch onto the arm that strikes him. To grapple with the Main Man. Yeah, might be a mistake. But it's the only move he has right now.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Rope fight! Troia finds her lasso entangled in whip-lady's whip and looks across at her with a grin. Whip lady returns the grin. The two circle each other cautiously at first, probing each other's defenses, but Troia's defenses are good. She trains in lasso combat regularly with Diana, and there may be no better training for not getting on the end of an opponents rope-weapon than that.

    Donna plays to this defensive skill, and Whip-Lady leans into it, pressing her attacks faster and faster to try to keep Troia from switching to the offensive. The battle between the two seems stalemated for a time, until Whip-Lady finds a break in Troia's defense. Her whip lashes forwards, coiling around Donna's forearm and entrapping it. "You're good," Whip-Lady says. "But not good enough."

    "Oh maybe one day we can fight properly and you'll find out how good I am," Donna replies. "But that's not today. I just wanted your hands occupied." Whip-Lady blinks at her, uncomprehending. Behind Whip-Lady, Diana, who had just dispatched her own foe, raises a fist. The fist comes down like the hammer of Hephaestos on the anvil of Whip-Lady's skull.

    Whip-Lady's grip goes limp, and Troia yanks the whip from her fingers as she swings a foot out to kick her stunned opponent straight into electro-kid or whatever he calls himself.

    Diana and Troia swing around to meet their next foes - but apparently it's Karen. That's not right. Something is clearly going very strange here. Battles are always chaotic, but they shouldn't be this chaotic, and they didn't even bring Vorpal with them. "Diana, I think this calls for your..." Troia starts to say. "Way ahead of you sister," Diana replies with a nod. Diana gets out her lasso, while Donna puts hers away and draws her sword instead.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Up, over around and then finally the thing is gone. Mystique's attention changed immediately back to Blink, spotting her staggering the cobalt mutant moves with trained speed, nothing supernatural about it, back across the room to the purple mutant's side.

The guns return to her hand, they may not have been useful against the ooze, but the might be useful again the Shi'ar, but not it was her turn to stand guard and protect Clarice, putting herself in the way to give the woman a moment to recover. That's when she notices all sort of things just seeming to go wrong, shots fired hitting the wrong people, which shouldn't even be possible. Although the guns remain at the ready, this new predicament changes her mind about shooting. The last thing she needs, on top of everything else, is to accidently shoot Wonder Woman in the head.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol slides backwards with the green Oan Energy Bullets striking her.

All bloody ten of them.

She absolutely does not let go of the 'Ambassador'.

Best part is she was already in energy abosrbtion mode.

The writhing cosmic energy starts to flare around her as she just holds onto the Ambassador. She genuinely isn't sure what is causing the bad luck.... it is definitely a power though... and it isn't making her any less mad.

Though at this rate if someone doesn't stop whatever is bending things against them she may accidently get punched by Karen and that would have more of an effect.

Jean Grey has posed:
Meanwhile, Shakari's armor holds for a while, whatever device is generating the hard light fields indeed pouring out more energy to replace what Carol steals. But, unsurprisingly that technology has an upper limit. The clash of wills continues, the woman bearing an unbelievable degree of 'weight' from the two-pronged attack-

-and then it all snaps.

The armor shatters in a flash of light, as whatever generating device hits its upper limit and shorts out, leaving the Ambassador without clothes, so to speak. In a follow up, he might be very dead-

But the stray bullets from Hal are distraction just enough, for him to get a moment, staggering backward and quickly calling a command in his language. There's another flash of energy, like when the Guard arrived... and he's gone.

---

The fleet engagement finally sees a breakthrough, although it is equally double-edged. The first cruiser, under John's attention, begins to finally see its shields fail. His ring is perilously low, too low, perhaps, to land a deathbblow, but the Almaracian cruiser lends a hand, threading a pair of torpedos past the two cruisers closer to it. This hits on the ventral 'wing' structure, causing first one large explosion, then a number of secondary ones. Simlutaneously, under fire from two cruisers, its own shields collapse, and it begins sustaining multiple smaller hits all across its hull, opening plasma fires into space. The Martian Manhunter maneuvers amidst the three, toward John's side, raking across both vessels with another eye-beam to discourage their pursuit of the wounded ship.

---

With her golden lasso in hand, burning with a golden light, Diana stands shoulder to shoulder with her sister, two of the Shi'ar still against them, and others all around. "The cloaked woman works a veil of deception over your eyes!" she calls to her allies, in warning. Suddenly, easily a dozen figures charge at the two of them, from every side. She lashes out with the lasso, and several vanish back into the magical either as it passes through. But some are real. She's fast enough to turn her bracer to block the electrical attack from the flying Shi'ar, although the metal conducts the energy, rather than simply deflecting it away. She resists, but he keeps pumping power into her.

The last one, Astra, comes from a different angle. Donna, a true sister, is there to defend her... but what does it matter when she can phase through the woman? She does, thrusting her hand knife-posture toward Diana's chest, and into it, where she phases back into semi existence.

The pain, this time, is even more extradordinary than the electroctuon.

---

Outside, the titans clash. The moon itself shakes, a hundred new alarms going off on the Watchtower's screens. << SYSTEMS AT CRITICAL.>>

Oh, and then there's glasses, who... would be very dead, if it weren't for those damn illusions. "Wow, that was really close! Kind of a dick move," he says, touching the side of his head. "Man, whatever." Another apparent 'shift' in tactic: he turns, rips out a set of controls (and a good chunk of the floor with it), and hurls them into another window, causing another momentary decompression, followed by a flickering forcefield. "Bet you we all of us breathe better in space than you do!"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique is no scientist, but the fact that the room keep decompressing and relying on energy to create force fields is enough information, when you take into consideration that the Watchtower power was failing, to indicate it was time to leave.

"Hey! Super dudes!" She bellows, leveling the guns on a Shi'ar who was close by, just in case it thinks about trying something. "It is time to get the air breathing people out! Blink, portal home, NOW!" She looks back over those present... this was not exactly what she had in mind with the idea of making new friends. "You're all welcome on the Asteroid, let's go while we're still breathing!"

Maxima has posed:
As if Maxima's opinion of the Green Lantern Corps could get any lower, now one of them is shooting at her! The first few projectiles hurt, curse those power rings, before a shield of shimmering psychic force manifests to absorb and deflect the rest. Hal receives a look that can only be described as furious. Furious enough that she doesn't even gloat over Neutron being brought to his knees before her, in favor of glaring at Hal. "Fire at me again and I will feed you that ring." It is perhaps a testament to her time on Earth though that he isn't just immediately treated as a new threat.

A wave of her hand flings Neutron toward one of the walls on a wave of telekinetic force in one last bit of spite at the one who interfered with her declared Trial. With that settled, she turns her head and laserlike beams blast from her eyes in the direction of Shakari, her previous target whom she had declared a Trial against, only for him to disappear scorching the walls instead and causing Maxima to scowl again. "Coward." She spits the word.

Still things are not over yet. She turns her attention to glasses now. "Space poses few difficulties for me you insolent fool." And suddenly there are three of her flying at him, or it looks like there are three anyway, vectoring in from different angles, because Glasses isn't the only one with illusions.

In space the Almeracian cruiser continues to fire its potent armaments, they'd have to be to be more worthwhile than Maxima just going outside herself, Simulacrum or not. But the Shi'ar fleet still possesses numbers including numerous smaller attack ships and Maxima's damaged vessel begins to pull back using the curvature of the moon for cover.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'm good. I'm okay," Clarice asserts - managing to straighten after a few more breaths. She pulls more javelins from her quiver at her back - as she shoots the fellow with the glasses a dark, angry look. "I really want to kill him," she mutters. But with his super speed, and the illusions in place (that portal should have //hit// him!) she's not sure how to achieve that goal.
    She grits her jaw - one hand flinging out to open one of her patented tears in reality, surrounded by her own brand of purple energy, and showing a bleaming metallic room on the other side. "Ma'am," she answers Mystique simply - the other hand moves swiftly, flinging a javelin at the woman with her hand... in? Wonder Woman's chest. This time, instead of simply teleporting her target to outerspace, she tries to drop her into the middle of the space battle - and right into the path of some of the weapons fire.

Clark Kent has posed:
Lobo grapples with Hyperion.

This works like this: Lobo punches Hyperion in the gut, sends a knee into his crotch, and wraps a chain around the Nuclear Man's throat, squeezing horribly. The chain is made of refracted dwarf star supersteel, which means it can leave a violent mark on Hyperion's mostly invulnerable neck.

"I don't kill Superstoop cause he's worth my time." Lobo breathes, heavily, into Hyperion's ear as he squeezes, his Czarnian flesh regenerating from Karen's attack fully. "Somebody I can break my knuckles on reliably. He's a laugh, you understand? That's the only reason I don't rip his stinking heart of his stinking chest. Are you worth my time, junior?"

Outside, things are?

Superman looks at the moon, and he takes a few brutal hits from Gladiator as he uses his heat vision to stabilize the moonquake he was inadvertently starting. Who knows how much damage losing control's done to the planet. He's got to move this fight?

There's a crack of air as Clark moves back into the Watchtower. "Justice League!" Superman calls out, looking grim, "We're falling back! We've caused too much damage to Earth's moon, we need to take the Watchtower back at a more opportune time!"

At least, Clark thinks, the Armory and Trophy Rooms are locked down.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Things are getting complicated for the Amazon sisters, particularly the one who's bracers are conducting electricity and is being phase-stabbed. Troia's attempt to intercept Astra's attack is foiled by her phasing, and swords don't do a whole lot against people who are intangible. No daughter of Themyscira will give up so easily though.

    Troia reaches once more for her own lasso, hurling it left-handed in an upwards swing straight from the belt. Of course the lasso also passes through Astra's semi-intangible form. The tip of the lasso curls up - and wraps around its target, not Astra at all, but Diana's bracers.

    Troia's lasso does not have the blessings of Hestia that Diana's lasso bears. But what it can do is act as an energy drain. Hopefully Astra is physical enough to provide an excellent grounding for the drain of electricity from Diana's bracers, and perhaps the shock will be sufficient to ensure Clarice's javelin can land true.

Hyperion has posed:
    Well, that did not go as planned. Hyperion had planned to be the one behind Lobo. Hrm. How did this... well it is a really good thing that Hyperion has no need for air. He decides to capitalize on his strengths, and use what he has available to him. Most notably, he reaches his hands for the chain. He's not trying to break it. He wants to use it to pull Lobo's arms and maybe head forward... just as he lunges back with his own skull to try to break the Main Man's nose.

    Odds are he might have a bit of strength of the guy. If not being a match in durability and self-healing. Again, he fights without one liners, without comment at all. When he finally manages to get just a tiny bit of slack in the chain, he curls himself forward and reaches his hands up to try a classic Judo grappling throw to get Lobo in front of -him-.

    He doesn't bother with a chain. He wraps muscular arms about Lobo's body... grabbing one arm in the process to force Lobo to have one arm pointed upwards uselessly. But he doesn't stop there. He drives a knee into the back of Lobo, going for the kidneys... all the while squeezing the man hard. He needs to keep the reactor safe, whatever the cost. I mean he could survive it exploding. Others might not.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol grabs empty air as the 'ambassador' slips from her grip via teleportation.

There is a bit of an inarticulate angry growl noise though.

The energy cascades around her and she looks towards Clark. For a moment she reflects back on what Ava said about taking a cataclysmic fight to the moon, or Jersey.

No one likes Jersey.

Still she is stupid mad and without telegraphing her intent she lances 'Glasses' with a dangerously overcharged photon blast. Maybe he eats it instead of Shakari. He is arrogant enough with his bet you can't breath comment.

"Fine." she growls and then kips up into the air and takes her exit through the flickering forceshield securing the window that Smasher knocked out. Jerk.

Which isn't to say she returns to earth though, she is just leaving the moon and getting a good look at the Shi'ar battle fleet.

<<I need to punch... something...>>

Hal Jordan has posed:
When Superman calls the retreat, Hal scans the room, letting the gun construct vanish. He heads for the nearest breach in the wall, flying through the forcefield and heading straight for the wounded Shi'ar cruiser.

    Looping around one of the remaining cruisers, the rocket launcher he creates is, perhaps, a bit comical for it's size. Using the ring to scan the cruiser's shielding for the weakest point, he fires an equally ludicrous sized projectile, backed up by the willpower of one of the most powerful green lanterns in existence. With any luck, this cruiser will also be following the first one into the journey to orbital scrap.

    That done, he zips after the Almeracian ship, putting up a wall of green force between it an any Shi'ar ships still firing on it. Somehow he managed to shoot Maxima, the least he can do is help protect her ship.

Karen Starr has posed:
    The benefit of moving fast enough that each twist of your body is accompanied by the crack of the sound barrier giving way is that mistakes are... Not /instantly/ deadly. Kryptonians thrive on such impossible, incredible muscular control that they can pet a cat without catastrophe, and even a spare moment of lax control's deadly results means that every member of their race that lives on Earth and fights for the side of Good has, /must/ have, perfect control.

    That doesn't mean that her skidding to a stop before delivering a blow that would've been Entirely Unfortunate for Donna isn't at least a little comical, but all the same, Power Girl rounds on her heel, and takes stock. Diana has called that they are illusions, and powerful ones at that.

    She takes a breath. Back on Krypton, this next bit would have seemed like an almost trite thing- like Crossfit or Hot Yoga, the kind of weird cultural dalliance afforded only the... Well, she is blonde, and she was a teenager at the time. Far from a master, but it should be enough, for just a /moment./

    "Tor-Rao. Tor-Vo."

    Under the light of a yellow sun, this sort of trance is almost mystical in nature. Amidst the chaos, it'd be almost impossible otherwise to discern reality from fiction, images from people. Then, there become only heartbeats. Each one with its own discernable thrum.

    "Let's take this outside." Karen states, and calmly, closes her eyes. She focuses then only on the heartbeats, and finds the one she last heard before the illusions took over. It's not far away of course, as Xenith is wont to beat the shit out of Karen at any moment... But that's what Power Girl /wants./

    The next time Xenith charges her, Karen almost seems to be fighting blind- and that is quite true. She's not /defenseless/, of course, but she's got a different plan. One that requires her to rely on invulnerability, if only for a few moments.

    She hears the energy in the hand of the woman teleporting people outside, and by dropping all of her guard, she allows Xenith in- and wraps her up in a quite literally unbreakable bearhug. This is going to open her to all of the other woman's offensive efforts, but despite this, Xenith is in truth at Karen's mercy.

    That grapple leads into a reposition, and very suddenly, the two of them are standing, locked together, in front of Clarice.

    Eyes still closed, and likely being battered by Xenith's onslaught, Karen still manages a quiet, "Outside please."

    When Clarice complies, Karen keeps the otherwise impossible to hit Xenith standing there with her- and very soon, the two of them will be outside- where Karen can really let loose, as long as she's still conscious.

John Stewart has posed:
With his Rings Power dangerously low, John starts to fly away from the fleet battle, speaking to Hal, <<I'm running on fumes. Those shields take most of my ring. Retreating to recharge. Good luck>>

As John passes the Martian Manhunter, he gives a right handed salute to the martian. His green glowing eyes and the Green Lantern uniform of his own design clearly mark him as a Green Lantern alongside Hal.... and he's off into the atmosphere.

He's not Justice League, but he gave as much assistance as he could give. Now, he needs to get somewhere safe to get his Battery out to recharge.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Oh woah, this is like that dream I had!" declares Glasses as a whole trio of Maximas (Maximai?) comes hurtling toward him.

He adjusts his stance... stands there and waits for them, grinning like an idiot? Boom, pow! They all land their hits, no illusions or anything this time. But also, this time, he stands there and takes it like Superman. Which is to say, pretty well.

Meanwhile, Clarice takes a shot at Astra. Donna has thrown her lasso through the woman and across toward Diana's bracer, conducting the charge through her, and stunning her in place. There are no illusions in their immediate presence, either, the lasso having done away with them previously, and so the teleporting projectile connects with a real version. Astra is removed from Diana's presence (although the trauma of the 'heart caress' seems to have left the Wonder out for the count), ending up wherever Clarice put her.

---

Outside, with the Almaracian vessel in retreat (covered ably by the Manhunter), the Shi'ar vessels do not pursue. Instead, they adjust their trajectories, which will now quickly bring them into lower orbit around the planet. They are met for a last defense by Hal Jordan, who with a large scale blast blows out the shields on the second vessel. And yet, there's still one in good working order, and it's reached the planet.

---

On screens all around the Watchtower, some of them working, some of them broken and flickering, Shakari's by now hated visage comes into view. "I advise that you reconsider our offer to yield. Those vessels will be within firing range of the surface shortly. If we cannot conduct a careful search for the Phal'kon, it will suffice to obliterate the surface within a hundred-mile radius of her position, I should think."

It is convenient, perhaps, that Superman has already suggested the same, that they do not need to agonize over the decision, much. "Depart the moon immediately, and withdraw your vessel from the dark side. We are annexing this facility as a base until our operation is complete. Further aggression will be dealt with... appropriately."

---

Back on the watchtower, Karen falls back on the only thing she can to avoid the risk of splattering any of her allies with a mis-placed punch, homing in with her other senses and getting Xenith in a clench. Then, she takes her for a ride. However, true to her plan, it comes at a cost: even before she's through, as Karen holds her in her arms, she has no hestitation to punch the woman in the face repeatedly, the battery unbroken as they teleport. She doesn't even care: she has her fight, and she means to finish it. When they reappear, she concludes it with a shattering headbut into the Kryptonian's nose, strong enough to break cartiledge as the equivalent human maneuver would. She lets go in the same moment, sending Karen hurtling down to form yet another new crater on the surface.

And finally... Carol angrily shoots Smasher. Who is still in invulnerability mode, so he doesn't just die (again!), but... does get blasted into a bulkhead, really damn hard. "OWWW! Jeez, that's way less fun than the Alien Princess fourway," he whines, as he pulls himself up.

Karen Starr has posed:
    If there's anything Karen's good at, it's probably getting hit. That impossible determination is an infection that runs through the House of L. Even for someone like Xenith, it's less like punching flesh, but more like punching steel. Still, it's not quite tough enough to take everything Xenith is putting out without buckling, and more than a little.

    With the mission accomplished, Xenith's headbutt sends Karen straight down into the surface of the moon, creating a new mark on its features that is just visible to someone looking at the moon through a low-powered telescope.

    Any hope that Xenith might have that it's over, though, is crushed when Karen sits up slowly, wiping the blood that's begun to leak from her nose after the vicious strike. Her cold blue eyes lock on Xenith, and she practically invites a second round- clearly not entirely heeding an order to retreat.

Maxima has posed:
The Almeracian Crown Princess is seemingly done holding back even slightly as she engages Smasher, it is questionable whether she actually even heard Clark's call to retreat. Crackling with telekinetic energy she lays one empowered smashing fist into another into him and when that doesn't seem to be getting very far launches one of the feared Almeracian Mental Bolt at his mind, should he actually meet her gaze he may find a strange hypnotic quality there that he could almost become lost in. It is a fighting style every bit as pragmatic and militaristic as that of the Shi'ar and one molded around her powers, drilled into her for as long as she can remember.

Meanwhile in space the green energy shield doesn't go unnoticed as it covers the strategic repositioning of Maxima's vessel, the Maxima on the ship's command deck definitely takes note of the development before the ship fades from view as its still functional cloak is reactivated.

Clark Kent has posed:
Lobo laughs, even as he's having the hell choked out of him. A Superman who fights dirty! Magnificent!

This goes on for some time, as Shi'ar troopers fill in the strategic areas of the Watchtower. Certain areas; most prominently the places where the JLA stores the strange weapons of their most dangerous enemies are closed off and will require serious work for the Shi'ar to access. No one wants these guys with Dr. Light's belt or Amos Fortune's Chance Machine, after all.

The Shi'ar look at the struggling Czarnian mercenary, and the enemy a-class superbeing. They open fire. Lobo again laughs even as the energy weapons pierce his skin and send him tumbling backwards. He recovers from being hit nearly as quickly as he's shot, but the sheer volume of attacks was enough to slow him down for a second.

"Guess we won't know who would've won that fair." Lobo says, pulling a knife out of his boot and sticking it in Hyperion's side. The medics'll patch it up, he thinks, or not. "But frag fair, am I right?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Mystique goes through first. The Amazons follow. And with a last glance around the room, Clarice steps through as well, letting the portal blink closed behind her. She's breathing heavily - her head ringing just a bit, as she directs her gaze to Donna. "The Med Bay's this way. Follow me," she instructs - leading the way so they can ensure Diana can get the help she needs.

Hyperion has posed:
    Peering down at Lobo, Hyperion says flatly, "No such thing as a fair fight. I fight to win." before he hauls off and slams his fist into Lobo's face. Once, twice... three times. And then he drops the mostly unconscious mercenary to the ground. I mean he'd have a concussion but... it's Lobo. That's already healed itself.

    He looks up to the Shi'ar soldiers.... they are mooks. Mooks with energy weapons. He can deal with...

    And then there are more than mooks there. Members of the Guard file in, and he takes a slow breath. Sure.. he doesn't NEED to breathe to survive. But he does need air to speak. His hands come up and he says, "Please stop firing. This is the power core. I would not want any stray shots or ricochets to strike it and blow us all up. I surrender."

Jean Grey has posed:
Thus the battle slowly, haltingly, comes to a kind of pause, if not truly a conclusion.

With at least one vessel in working order above the planet, the Shi'ar leverage a dangerous threat -- although whether it is one they would dare carry out, is hard to say. Will intergalactic treaties, the Kree or the Green Lanterns keep their behavior honest? Unmasked, Davan Shakari has proved himself more a man of deceit and violence than any true Ambassador, and such war crimes do not seem beyond his capability. One might even wonder about the title...

But the Justice League is not defeated. As heroes, they make the nobler choice, not to fight for a pyrrhic victory that might see the Watchtower destroyed, the moon shattered and the Eastern seaboard in flames. Instead, they pursue a true victory. A victory for one life, and for all lives, equally. For now, they retreat in good order to Asteroid M. It is, perhaps, not a place most thought they would ever visit, but times like these make for strange bedfellows indeed.

When they survey their losses aboard their new orbital home, they will count their losses. One formidable hero injured, but on the mend. Another, it would seem, in the clutches of their very enemy. Maxima's ship is damaged, and will need repair, while the Shi'ar no doubt hasten toward the same.

A final reckoning yet remains, for them above, and for those the Shi'ar have come to hunt.