14th March 2011
07:29 GMT +2
I sit on a large lump of what was once a wall, my hands massaging my temples. Well… Attack's over. The surviving military officers from the Shiruta garrison are taking charge of the clean… Of the clean up. The wounded are being treated in makeshift field hospitals, but there aren't actually that many casualties. It's a little like a Dalek attack; their weapons are so deadly when used against baseline Humans that there are hardly any survivors. You either flat out die or you're fine.
There's a soft thud just in front of me and I look up. Despite his power, the League felt it best that Captain Marvel remain behind. Partly because he should be able to deal with most situations which arise in the absence of the rest of the League's most powerful members and partly because he has school later today.
"Captain. What can I do for you?
" William isn't looking at me. He's staring to his right, at… Ah.
"We haven't prioritised clearing the bodies away. I know it's not..
ideal…
"
"Oh God. What..?" He shakes himself and turns back to me. "What happened here?"
"Not entirely sure, sir. A group of people -Humans, probably- attacked the city using Apokoliptian equipment and combat robots. Adom was in Al-Qawiya and normal military units can't effectively fight things like that. I got here at oh six fifty three local time and began killing the attackers. Unfortunately, they'd killed most of the Shiruta Council during their initial attack… After that… Well, we can analyse their exact movements later, but it looks like they just went on the rampage.
"
"Who..?" He looks as lost as I feel. "Who was it? Who would
do something like this?"
"I don't know.
" My head goes down into my hands again.
"We know Bialya has had dealings with Apokolips, but we've had them under satellite observation and I've set the ring to notify me of any boom tubes opening near Earth. We haven't seen or heard anything in that direction since last year. Those criminals Dreamer mentioned could have accessed the equipment… Maybe, I don't know. And if they've got a way to get around boom tube detection systems then they could have given it to just about anyone.
" I look up and glance around at the devastation that surrounds us.
"Or just sent them here themselves.
"
William looks straight at me. "I wanna talk to your prisoners."
"Prisoners?
" I shake my head.
"There aren't any.
"
"You..? You killed all of them?"
"A lot, but no.
" I take a partially reconstructed set of aero-trooper armour out of subspace.
"Once I killed their fliers and destroyed their heavy equipment, I attempted to take one or two of the others alive. Their armour contained a very thorough suicide system, which incorporated a G-Sanitizer. A G-Sanitizer is a rather nasty piece of short lived nanotechnology which -when properly utilised- completely breaks down organic matter. Including the subject's DNA. I've been trying to use what's left to identify them, but what I've got is nothing I'd want to make any definite conclusions with. I had the rings take a crack at the robots' central processing units… Same problem. Not enough left.
"
He nods. "Who's in charge here?"
I stand up, stretching a little more out of habit than any real need. Rings aren't quite exhausted yet.
"Me, actually. Adom's not here, every high ranking politician's dead, along with the general who was in charge of the city's defence… We only found the radio jammer ten minutes ago. Lieutenant Colonel Negm is organising the recovery efforts but I think he's a bit shell shocked.
" My eyes unfocus for a moment as I have the ring give me an overview of the city. Things.. seem to be progressing…
"Have they attacked anywhere else?
"
William shakes his head. "No. Just here."
"I had wondered if this was a reprisal. But, if they've just come
here…
"
"It probably wasn't."
I nod.
"Have we heard anything from the team that went to Apokolips yet?
"
He shakes his head. "This doesn't mean that anything's happened to them."
"I know. I just thought they might be able to shed some light…
" I shake my head.
"Where's Adom?
"
William winces. "Cairo."
Oh shit.
"Doing what?
"
"We're not sure. I wanted you to be there when I went to talk to him."
I bow my head slightly, squeezing my eyes shut. Even under optimal conditions… And that was with me working alongside him and with as much of the army as could be spared assisting, attacking Cairo was going to result in massive collateral damage. Of course, if he's
there then it's already happened. There's no way
this happened and he didn't retaliate. I nod.
"Okay. No sense leaving it.
"
I attach a filament to William and transition us to the air over the
Heliopolis Palace. An entire wing of the place has been demolished, and the ring scans show that the people within have been pulverised. He didn't fight them. He didn't slow down. Slowing down to fight them would have been inefficient. We did actually.. plan this… The reason that we didn't implement it was that just about everyone in the target area would be killed. Not just the people in control of the government, but their aides, staff and other civil servants. When he's going that fast… Ring, scan…
Yes. The minimum number of civilian casualties that could be achieved in an attack by him alone, as long as you exclude anyone remotely involved in government or military function from your assessment of 'civilian'. Fewer people than died in Shiruta…
William goes pale as we descend through the sky towards Adom's entry point. The Palace itself would have been the last place he struck. No hostages
here after all. We head further into the building and I'm glad that the ring's environmental shield is filtering out the smell. In Shiruta we'd at least gotten around to covering up most of the bodies. Here, there's bits of person nearly everywhere I look.
Adom looks up from his
seat as we enter the cabinet meeting room, the bodies of Kahndaq's late rulers laying in squishy pieces around him. His eyes move over our faces for a moment, then he returns to staring into the middle distance. "Orange Lantern. Captain Marvel. Is Shiruta secure?"
I go to land, then realise that there isn't really anywhere I
can land without stepping on a piece of someone.
"The attack's over, Mighty One.
"
"The attackers?"
"Dead. All of them.
"
"Where were they from?"
I hesitate, trying to ignore quite how much blood there is on his uniform.
"I.. can't say with any certainty. They were using Apokoliptian equipment-.
"
"So, Bialya. It was just a trick." He exhales sharply. "That is disappointing."
"We don't.. know for certain-.
"
"
CAN THERE BE ANY DOUBT?!" The muscles on his neck stand out as he glares directly at me. "
Who else has motive?!
My city, the city named for my wife, lies bleeding and broken…" He leaps into the air, level with William and I. "
And now you will no doubt try to dissuade me from avenging Kahndaqi blood." He shakes his head. "
No.
No.
This is more than I can bear.
The sands of Bialya will turn RED for this!"
"Adom, even if it
was Bialya-" William floats forwards, hands raised in a placatory gesture. "-and we
don't know that for sure yet, that's not the right way to go about dealing with this! You said you wanted to lead Kahndaq to a better future and you won't be able to do that if you keep killing people!"
"
You may be surprised what one may do and still be considered an upstanding statesman." He turns, looking out through the broken wall to the city beyond. "And where was the Justice League?"
"They're.. off world."
"How many of my people died in Shiruta today?"
"Um…
" I shake my head.
"We don't know yet. Every major politician who was there, and a lot more besides. We'll know more in a few hours.
"
"I should be back by then." He bows his head slightly.
"This was not how I wanted to begin my reign."
"Adom, I can't let-." I turn, frantically shaking my head at William as Adom raises his eyebrows. The absolute
last thing that needs to happen now is the two of them fighting. Whoever wins, Kahndaq would be in even more of a mess. He spots me, then hesitates as Adom turns to regard him. "I mean, you're angry. You're not thinking clearly. I understand
why. This is an absolutely horrifying thing to have happened, but you just need-."
"
I need nothing.
And I will not be lectured by the Wizard's lackey, a man who has never-."
"Show him.
"
Adom turns to glare at me. "Show me
what?"
"William. Show him.
"
He hesitates for a moment, then lands on the cleanest part of the floor. He bows his head for a moment and takes a deep breath. "Shazam!"
"Removing your powers will not-!" Adom boggles as the smoke clears. "
You're… You're a-a
child? The Wizard chose a.. c-child?"
"Hey." William smiles, though I image that without Achilles courage he's finding our environment even more shocking. "I'm not a baby. I'm eleven."
Adom drops to the floor, flabbergasted. "My… My own
s-." He looks William over, clearly not quite believing his eyes. "Why? Why did he choose you. You cannot have been a warrior or leader. What did you do to so earn his favour?"
"You're right. I'm not a warrior or a leader. He chose me because he thinks he can trust me to use the power properly. That I was a good enough person not to end up..." He looks around the room. "After the two of you fell out, after five thousand years, I was the first person he met he thought he could risk it on. And I'm telling you, you don't want to make this decision when you're angry."
Adom.. seems to shrink in on himself slightly. He stands completely still for several seconds. At long last, he nods. "I will.. be guided by you. I will wait. Orange Lantern, please convey me back to Shiruta. I must see to my people's needs."
