Rakhana Orbit
"Final flight paths have been coordinated with Council and Krogan fleets," helmsman Rava'Toran declared. "Three minutes until we hit atmosphere."
Perhaps the opposite would be more appropriate, Admiral Vala mused.
The air must more rock than gas at this point.
Some older asari and krogan -many of whom had fought on opposite sides of the war- who still remembered the rebellions had spoken of one of the rarest and most unsettling sights a sapient being could ever encounter: a world on fire.
It was less the actual violence of the affair, they would say, and more of what said violence was being inflicted upon. Garden worlds had a unique beauty to them, ephemeral and capable of elevating even the most cynical of souls when seen from the heavens. Seeing them burn from asteroid impacts and nuclear bombardment was just as poignant, and not in a good way.
As she gazed upon the dying world beneath, scarred by so many volcanoes and burning fissures in the crust that the entire planet seemed a hot coal, she was beginning to understand just how poignant that horror was.
And yet they would plunge into the flames; all fifty thousand ships of the newly renamed Quarian Home Fleet would, and they would not leave until each ship was filled with as many people as they could physically fit inside. They had done so twice already, and they would do so again and again, until the work was done.
All this, because a good man asked it of them.
"Admiral," Rava called again. "New contacts appearing fifty thousand kilometers out."
"Council? Krogan?"
"Unknown" he replied, and this time she realized his voice was unsteady.
"Forward the long-distance camera feed to my omnitool," she said.
Holding out her wrist, she pulled up a vidscreen. A handful of ships had appeared, but immediately she knew they were not like anything she'd seen before. The saucer-shaped vessels had no visible propulsion systems, nor did they possess any form of lightsail or beamed propulsion that could explain the lack of drives. If anything, they resembled a child's toy, their smooth and unmarked hulls belying their true nature.
That alone was unnerving enough. The fact that automeasuring programming in the cameras listed each one as ten kilometers across took her from 'unnerved' to 'more afraid than she'd ever admit'.
"Admiral, they're transmitting to us and the other rescue ships," said Pali'Kansh, the comms officer. "Shall I put them through?"
"I want our guns warmed up first," she commanded. "Then put them on the main screen."
Pali nodded, and then a few seconds later the view of Rakhana was replaced with that of the interior of what had to be a spaceship CIC. A broad alien face greeted her, and her gut reaction was that she was staring into the eyes of a predator. Looking into its other three sets of eyes did nothing to improve that unsettled feeling. Yet there was intelligence behind them, she knew.
Two first contacts in a day, she thought wryly.
Wonderful.
The newcomer's triangular mouth moved quite strangely as they spoke. "I am Fleet-Prime Chi Pi'gu. My Above-All has sent me and this fleet to assist in relocation efforts. We are giving you our flight paths now."
The feed cut abruptly, and Pali coughed.
"Admiral, heir flight paths are conflicting with ours. I'd almost say deliberately so."
"Connect me to Joint Command," she ordered. "We'll adjust ours accordingly for now, considering our new... partners don't seem the type to talk things out."
"Understood, Admiral."
The ship groaned as it selected a new course, and Vala watched the massive saucers glide almost casually into the ash-choked atmosphere of Rakhana. Now that the initial shock had passed, she didn't find herself particularly unsettled by these newcomers. Regardless of what strange new technologies they might have compared to her own people, there was something she knew for certain they lacked.
Or, rather, some
one.
S
Ascendant Justice, Kahje Orbit
Councilor Tevos consulted her omnitool as she spoke, even centuries of ingrained manners and elegance failing to hide her fatigue. It was hard to get sleep when one's cabin was packed full of drell refugees and you had to spend all of your time on the bridge, after all.
"One hundred and ninety-three thousand and eight hundred ships have participated in evacuation efforts so far. We have already exceeded last year's
total eezo consumption in twelve hours; fleet personnel have accumulated eighty thousand hours of overtime; and civilian ship compensation alone is three billion credits."
"Do you think the price was too high?" Superman asked, arms folded.
Tevos looked out the bridge window. Kahje had never been exactly a hub of interstellar transportation and commerce, and now there were so many ships that she could hardly see the blue world beneath. That was nothing to say of the space stations that Superman had hastily made from asteroids he'd hollowed out and deposited in orbit between his jaunts. Billions of drell were here now, billions that would have died if not for them.
"Not at all," Tevos said, quietly.
She blinked when she realized she was saying it an empty space that was curiously bereft of one Superman. Two seconds later he reappeared, hands caked in dust, and she realized one of the asteroids had shifted to avoid a satellite.
"Don't worry, I heard you," he said. "Sorry about that. Even with the fleets helping out, it's still a lot of work."
"I can't imagine the strain," she said.
"It's..." he fell silent for a moment. "I know I can't do it all. But I still try."
"Thankfully you don't have to try alone," Tevos replied.
There was a beep from her omnitool, and she furrowed her brow as she realized it was an urgent communique from Fleet Command. She glanced briefly at Superman, and he nodded.
"Tevos here," she said. "And Superman."
"Councilor, an uncontacted species has... begun participating in rescue operations. They are already leaving with the first wave of rescues."
"What do you mean, another species?" Superman asked, a confused look on his face. "You were the only ones I could get on short notice. I tried getting the Lanterns too, but they're busy."
"Wait, if you didn't contact them, then who-"
A shadow blocked Kahje's sun, and Tevos realized that a massive ship suddenly off the port, a saucer of smooth white metal. Superman tensed, as if ready to spring into action, while another ping drew Tevos back to her omnitool.
"
This is Fleet-Prime Chi Pi'gu. We shall commence depositing the rescues. In the meantime, our Above-All wishes to speak with the Council."
Tevos cleared her throat. "We are grateful for the assistance in the rescue operation. We can arrange a meeting aboard
Ascendant Justice in thirty minutes."
"
These terms are agreeable. The Above-All also wishes for Superman to attend the meeting."
They know about Superman? For some reason, that didn't seem like a good thing to her. She exchanged a look with him, and saw that he also had an uncertain air about him.
"Tell your Above-All I'll be there," he finally said.
S
The three councilors stood in the center of the ship's meeting room, a table between them and the door. Superman stood slightly to their right, with enough space to let anyone observing know that he was not part of the council.
Though he might as well be, Tevos thought.
The door opened, and a turian guard entered, bowing curtly. "The delegation from the planet Lexor has arrived."
"Lexor?" Superman repeated. "Oh no..."
Tevos was about to ask what had him so worried when two of the burly newcomers stepped through. They were so tall that they had to stoop as they entered, so broad that even a krogan would seem to them a child. They wore simple fabric uniforms of green and purple, and on their chests they bore a crest- a white circle, with a black line bent at an acute angle.
"No no no..."
The two giants abruptly moved to each side of the door frame and turned to face each other. Then, they knelt, fearsome faces scraping the floor.
"Presenting the Above-All," they began, speaking in frightening unison. "He Who Brought Us the Stars. Savior of our Minds, He Who is Most Cunning."
Another figure appeared- not by walking in, like anyone else would have, but rather they simply just
appeared. Like their guards they wore a uniform of purple and green, though with an impressive collar. They stood with their arms folded behind their back, and Tevos's eyes widened as she realized they -or rather he- were not of the species of their subjects.
He's another member of Superman's species, she thought.
Albeit, with considerably less hair.
"
Nonononononononononononono-"
"Greetings, councilors of the Citadel," he said, and then a knowing grin crossed his face as he looked to the side. "And Superman."
Tevos looked over, and saw another expression she'd never seen before coming from Superman- pure and profound contempt.
"I believe introductions are in order. Well, for you three, anyway. Superman already knows who I am." The Above-All straightened, unable to hide the smug look on his face. "I am Lex Luthor, and I am here to save the galaxy."
S
Lois paused her typing. For the briefest moment, she'd felt an itch. Some primal awakening of her reporter's instinct, that told her a story she would kill to cover was happening without her knowledge (and thereby consent).
She shrugged, and continued typing. This article was already proving to be a juicy one- after all, it wasn't every day that Batman had uncovered that the Lex Luthor who'd been in prison for six months was actually a hard light hologram. She wanted to finish this article before Clark came back from space again, maybe even let him read it before she submitted.
Something told her he'd find it interesting.
S
On this day in 1938, Action Comics #1 hit the stands. Its contents included short little adventures of such characters as Zatara, Master Magician; Tex Thomson, a masked crime fighter known as Mr. America; and Sticky Mitt Stimson.
Its most famous story, however, is the one that made for the first 13 pages, and was the one featured on the covers. A story of the sole survivor of an alien world called Krypton, who was gifted with marvelous strength and decided to use it to fight a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.
Happy 85th Birthday, Superman.
Of course, let us not forget his enduring love interest of 85 years as well. It's her birthday too, after all.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this snippet. See you in another four years (I'm just kidding (or am I?))
